


Facades

by Llwydyn



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Lance Hunter is a good listener when he's not being a jerk, Romance, Skye and Hunter both have trouble not getting attached, Skye needs someone to talk to, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 23:24:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 28,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2559605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Llwydyn/pseuds/Llwydyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Skye and Lance Hunter have more going on beneath the surface than their tough-agent facades let on. Begins post-2.04, "Face My Enemy," and is canon-compliant and contains spoilers for all episodes through 2.08, "The Things We Bury." Lots of behind-the-scenes and back-story speculation. Now complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because there should be much, much more SkyeLance/SkyeHunter in the world than there has been so far. I am intrigued by this pair and their possibilities.

She had exhausted every lead she could think of, she had read everything she could find. Skye still hadn't come up with anything new about the mysterious painting with the alien writing on the back. Why on earth was Coulson so interested in it?

Coulson. Coulson... Skye's thoughts went wandering off. Speaking of things she didn't understand, why had Coulson become so distant? What was he hiding from her? Was it just Simmons' assignment? No, it couldn't be - because things hadn't become any easier between them in the wake of Skye finding out.

Simmons. What was she up to, at this moment? Skye was, in all honesty, terrified for her. It did help somehow to know that she hadn't abandoned them. Skye had been a bit ripped up by the betrayal of her only close female friend. That was a whole other can of emotional worms.

Skye heaved a sigh and buried her face in her hands. Simmons. Fitz. Coulson. Ward. SHIELD. Hydra.

It was all just too much sometimes.

* * * * * 

Lance Hunter was wandering through the halls, on his way to bed after a couple hours of drinking beer and bonding with Fitz and Mack. He really hadn't had a chance to interact much with the young Scot before, and once you got past the awkward pauses in his sentences, the kid actually had quite a bit to say. Sad to hear about what had happened with his old partner, the one who was now undercover in Hydra. Hunter wondered whether Fitz knew about that.

Hunter passed an open door and noticed Skye inside the room, her back to him, laptop on the table beside her and her head in her hands. Something about the scene struck him as off.

"Skye? Everything ok?" he asked, entering the room.

She lifted her head. "Oh. Yeah," she said, waving her hand wearily at the laptop screen. "Just out of ideas and out of brain power." She definitely wasn't going to tell him everything that was on her mind.

Hunter folded himself into the chair across from her, noticing and ignoring her withering glance. Something she had said that day was coming back to him. "I hadn't realized that the 'asset'" - he used air quotes - "down in the vault, that you and he had been a thing."

Skye laughed bitterly. "Yeah. Well, almost a thing. Thankfully, it didn't quite get there."

Hunter's eyes were sincere. "I'm sorry to hear that. That's tough, you know? When your heart's involved."

Skye nodded absently. So Hunter was in a serious mood. She didn't detest this Lance Hunter - the one she had glimpsed in their conversation about Izzy Hartley - as much as she did the irritating man with his affected swagger.

"Yeah, it pretty much sucked." She really didn't want to think about Ward. But she couldn't escape it lately, not with having to go down to interrogate him so often recently. To see Ward look at her with those desperate eyes, as if she were a cup of water in the desert. She always wanted to take a shower afterward.

Hunter was talking again.

"You may think of me as a lazy good-for-nothing - and I may have done something to foster that impression," he added with a grin - "but I'm not terrible at listening. At least, that's what -"

"Your ex used to say," she finished.

Hunter chuckled. "Exactly."

Skye arched an eyebrow. "Was that before or after you discovered that she was a demonic hell-beast?" She smiled wryly.

"Before," he replied affably. "When she still had something good to say about me."

Skye rolled her eyes and let it drop. The last thing she wanted was to end up in another conversation about Hunter's ex-wife.

But Hunter didn't seem interested in pursuing the subject further. He was studying Skye intently, elbows on the table, chin on his fists. "Seriously," he offered. "It's not healthy to keep that all locked up inside. If you want to talk, I'll listen."

Skye blinked incredulously. The Dr. Phil act was unexpected, and she didn't quite know what to make of it. She did know that she wasn't in a place where she could trust anyone with those emotions right now. Especially not a guy she felt attracted to. Between Miles and Ward, it had become clear to her that her judgment when it came to men was seriously flawed.

Wait, had she just mentally referred to Lance Hunter as "a guy she felt attracted to"?

Crap.

"Well?" he prodded her, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah. No, I'm good, thanks," Skye answered abruptly. She shut her laptop with a decisive *click* and stood up. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

Lance shrugged and watched as she headed toward the door. "Suit yourself. Just remember that if you want to talk, you know where to find me." He grinned cockily as she left the room.

Not likely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Skye-centric chapter.

Skye couldn't sleep that night. Her emotions, held down tightly for so long, were struggling free, and the associated waves of nausea and a dull ache in her chest were keeping her awake. She wasn't sure what it was about the day's events that had seemed to bring everything to the surface. But there it was.

She gave up, got up, and quietly padded out to the lounge, where she hoped to lose herself in a comfy chair and a firearms operations manual. Anything to keep her mind off...everything.

She should have chosen different reading material. Every page she looked at just brought back memories: her first session of marksmanship training with Ward; the day Coulson had taken off her bracelet and she was allowed near the ammo storage again; the ICER Fitz had handed her before she snuck into the mansion where Quinn had shot her. The terror of being shot by Quinn. The look on Coulson's face when she came to after being shot by Quinn. The look on Coulson's face when he asked her to go down to the vault and talk to Ward.

It was too much. Skye felt tears pricking in her eyes. She hadn't allowed herself to cry, not in months. Not since they came to the Playground. She was going to train hard, become tough, get back at Hydra for what they had done. She wasn't going to let her emotions weaken her. But it wasn't working. Especially not tonight.

Tired of fighting it, Skye shut the book in her lap and began to cry quietly, hoping that nobody was up to hear her. They shouldn't be - she was usually the only one wandering around at night.

At first, the tears came slowly; it was hard to let anything out after months of bottling it up so fiercely. But the breaking was inevitable: soon, she was sobbing more violently than she had expected to, grasping at a nearby box of tissues that had suddenly become necessary.

Of course, it was at this moment that Skye heard the soft sound of footsteps coming toward her on the hard floor. She knew she was caught and made the decision not to care. She stayed balled up in the chair and hoped that whoever it was would leave her alone.

Instead, whoever it was came closer, and Skye felt a comforting hand placed on her back.

The reassuring gesture undid her completely.

Memories, regrets, fears, doubts, abandonment, betrayal - it all crashed over her in waves. She found that physical contact with someone who cared grounded her enough to dive into the sea of pain without drowning in it. She wasn't sure how long she cried, but it was long enough for the unbearable swirl of her thoughts to quiet and the ache in her chest to begin to fade.

As her tears subsided, Skye looked up to see whose quiet comfort had steadied her through them. She was expecting Trip, or maybe Fitz. In her wildest dreams, Coulson.

She was shocked to see Lance Hunter.


	3. Chapter 3

Skye's face flushed beet red, and she snatched at the box of tissues, which she had set aside at some point, to mop the tears and snot off her face."How - how did you...?"

Hunter answered simply, "I heard something."

Of course. His room was the closest to the lounge. Of course he would have heard.

Skye sat up, trying not to care that she was an absolute mess. She flicked the last of the tears from her cheeks and forced a self-conscious laugh. "How is this not weirding you out?"

Hunter shrugged. "I've been a private military contractor for the last seven years," he said matter-of-factly. "I was military for five years before that. Not everyone is the unflappable Agent May, with the supernatural ability to bury every emotion without a trace." His eyes met hers, and she saw understanding in them. "Everybody has their breaking point."

The tears started welling up in Skye's eyes again, and she hated that Hunter was seeing it. "My breaking point seems to be lower than everyone else's," she said bitterly. That was it. She hated that about herself.

He shook his head. "You're sensitive," he said quietly. "You feel deeply and you connect to people deeply. That's a difficult quality to have in this kind of work. It's not necessarily a weakness."

Skye stiffened. "But it is a liability."

Hunter shrugged again. "Only if you let it be." He caught her eyes again and said frankly, "You'll do more damage trying to be May when you're not May than you will by acknowledging how you're wired and learning to deal with it."

Skye nodded. He had a point; Melinda May was Skye's idea of a perfect SHIELD agent, and Skye wanted to be just like her. But maybe there were some things about May that she really couldn't become. Forcing it might do more harm than good. And she did have some strengths that May didn't have, she supposed. At least she could muster up a more convincing laugh undercover.

...How did Lance Hunter understand so much about her?

Deep in thought, Skye became aware that at some point, Hunter had begun gently rubbing her back. Suddenly, she was _very_ aware of the comforting gesture - more so than she wanted to be. The heat of his proximity made her pulse quicken.

 _Stupid hormones, or pheromones or whatever,_ she thought fiercely. _I am not dealing with you tonight._

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Skye fighting a battle in her head and Hunter staring off into space. She abruptly remembered that she had woken him.

"I should let you get back to sleep," she said suddenly.

Hunter was bleary-eyed. "Probably," he agreed. "After all, you never know whose life I'll be called upon to save in the morning. Have to be at the top of my game." He grinned cheekily.

Skye made a face at him. That man.

As Hunter got up to go, Skye said quietly, "Thank you."

He turned around and gave her a half-smile. "Any time."

"Hunter?" They were still looking at each other.

"Yeah?"

"How do I keep it from becoming a liability?" Skye realized briefly how bizarre it was to be asking for advice on emotional issues from Lance Hunter. But he had been in the business for a long time. And he did seem to know what he was talking about.

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think what you did tonight is a good start," he said slowly. "If you can't bury your emotions, you have to get them out somehow. That way, they don't keep eating you up inside."

Skye nodded, and smiled weakly in thanks. He nodded and held her gaze for a beat before turning to head off to bed.

As he disappeared down the hall, Skye found herself wondering how Lance Hunter dealt with his emotions.


	4. Chapter 4

Hunter shuffled back to his room groggily. Once inside, he collapsed onto the bed, folding his arms behind his head and waiting for sleep to come. After a while, when it didn't come, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

Thoughts drifted through his mind - mostly thoughts about Skye. He figured he'd better take a moment to sort them out if he wanted to get any more rest tonight.

What a puzzle that girl was. He'd had a feeling there was a soft underbelly beneath that tough-agent exterior of hers; she was good at hiding it, but little things had given it away. But when Hunter went out to the lounge to investigate the noise he'd heard, he hadn't expected to find Skye bawling her eyes out. He'd recognized it for what it was - the stresses of combat, heartache, and loss weighing too heavily on a good soldier with a soft heart. He'd seen it plenty of times before. He'd talked people through it before. Not for a while, now.

...He'd been experiencing a bit of it himself, lately.

His mind swerved away from that train of thought, and he wondered instead what circumstances and emotions could have burdened Skye to the point of sobbing in an overstuffed chair in the middle of the night. She hadn't seemed well earlier that evening, when he'd offered to listen. But he supposed he wasn't exactly her first choice as confidant. ( _Who else would it be, though?_ he wondered. Agent May didn't seem the type for deep emotional discussions.)

He knew it had to've been something big. Skye was anything but weak; on the contrary, Hunter had seen that she could be tough as nails. He'd observed her composure on the way back to base after taking out Donnie Gill - she was as cool as ice, no pun intended. Knew what had to be done and did it. She was strong, all right. Strong. Just not soulless.

Hunter knew vaguely that Coulson's people had been through hell. They'd been at the epicenter of the Hydra uprising; their team had been splintered; Fitz had been injured. Hunter didn't know how close Skye and Fitz had been, but he saw how Fitz's current state affected her.

Then there was the asset down in Vault D. Thinking about the fact that Skye had been involved with him, that his betrayal had affected her on a personal level, inexplicably made Hunter's blood begin to boil.

He was feeling awfully defensive of a woman he wasn't supposed to be attached to.

Hunter's thoughts drifted to Skye herself. He was honest enough with himself for a moment to acknowledge that she had gotten under his skin a bit, and that he felt an unusually strong desire to make her notice him. I mean, of course she was beautiful, and the only woman around besides the terrifying Agent May, but it wasn't just that. There was something about Skye that Hunter found magnetic. He had a feeling that it wasn't one-sided. At the same time, he had the distinct impression that she was pushing him away. He wondered whether it had something to do with the jerk in the basement.

Hunter sighed and crossed his ankles, then uncrossed them, trying to get comfortable. His thoughts were turning in a direction that he really didn't want to go, so he made up his mind to redirect them.

After all, Lance Hunter did not get attached. He had learned the lesson a long time ago that caring too much about comrades in arms was a sure recipe for heartbreak, and after his wife had left him, he'd made the deliberate decision to extend that detachment into his personal life as well. No more of that devastation for him, thank you very much. Sure, he might meet a girl now and then, he might fool around. But he didn't let his heart get involved. Too much vulnerability there.

It was lonely as hell sometimes. But at least it didn't hurt like hell.

And it worked pretty well, most of the time. Other times - like with Izzy Hartley and Idaho - you worked with someone long enough that you almost couldn't help but get attached. You met their families...you pulled each other out of tight spots...you witnessed emotional breakdowns. Hard not to care, in such a situation.

Skye was right. This whole "not-getting-attached" thing didn't always work very well for him. Not that he would ever admit it.

Hunter sighed again and squeezed his eyes shut, crinkling up his forehead. It was really much too late at night to be having this conversation with himself. He was pretty sure that soon it would morph into a bizarre dream about electrical-system viruses and pink elephants and he'd wake up totally disoriented. It had to be time to sleep, before that happened.

But there was one more thing buzzing in his mind, one thought he hadn't processed yet, and it wouldn't let him rest. After a few more minutes of trying to sleep, he groaned and sat up, rubbing his face with both hands. _All right, fine, brain. Let's go there._

His thoughts flashed back to the look on Skye's face when he'd told her to stop trying to be Agent May - the vulnerable, disarmed way she'd responded to him, the gratefulness in her eyes. He felt a faint ache rise up in his chest.

He hadn't had such an honest, emotionally transparent discussion with anyone in...years, really. He'd missed it.

Ah, hell.

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut again and let himself go there for a minute, to experience the longing for connection, for emotional intimacy. He'd had it before. It had never ended well. But oh, it had been good while it lasted.

A little voice in his brain reminded him that toying with these thoughts was a really stupid and dangerous idea.

Hunter shoved it all out of his mind and turned to bury his face in the pillow. It was way past time to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The show wasn't clear whether all the events of 2.05 took place in a single day, but given that Raina only had a 48-hour window, I've made the assumption for fanfic purposes that 2.05 took place all on the same day, immediately following 2.04. This chapter picks up about an hour after the end of 2.05. Enjoy!

Hunter was in the kitchen nursing a bottle of beer when Skye walked in.

"Haven't you had enough to drink?" she asked with disgust, opening the refrigerator door. She grabbed a bottle of Coke and slammed the fridge door shut before flopping into a chair at the table.

Hunter was prickly, in no mood to stomach offenses after his run-in with Bobbi. "I don't see how it's any business of yours, _sweetheart_ ," he replied sarcastically.

"When you reek of alcohol and I have to share space with you, it becomes my business," she shot back, raising her Coke bottle to take a swig.

"Well, then you can leave, if my odor is so offensive," he snapped. Honestly, women and their incessant nattering. Couldn't they just leave him alone?

Skye glared at him, then took another swig of Coke. Hunter saw her subtly brush her cheek. He suddenly realized her eyes were wet, and he grimaced ruefully.

"Rough day?" he asked, moderating his tone.

"Not that you would care," she spat at him.

Hunter rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to curb his annoyance. "I'm just a bit upset, all right?"

Skye blinked at him incredulously. "What do you have to be upset about? You saw what happened in there tonight."

Ah. Right. Her dad. He'd sort of forgotten about that, in the wake of what he himself had just been through. He contemplated mentioning the ex-wife encounter to Skye, but decided against it.

"I...never mind. Forget it," he muttered lamely.

She didn't answer, nor did she look at him. She went on staring silently at the wall, taking sips of Coke.

He tried a peace offering. "D'you want a beer?"

"No."

Ohhhhh, this woman was going to try his patience tonight. He'd had enough. He pulled out the chair across from her and sat down directly in her line of sight.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She glared at him again.

He held her gaze and said, as gently as he could muster, "Am I going to come out here tonight and find you breaking down again?"

Skye dropped her eyes and shook her head, lips in a tight line. She had felt the awkwardness of last night's conversation hanging between them all day, not that she'd had much time to think about it. It had made her even sharper toward him than usual. "No, and I'm sorry you had to see that."

That wasn't what Hunter had meant. Not at all.

"It's not a problem," he said. "I just wondered if you'd rather talk about it first this time, before Coulson decides to have SHIELD buy stock in Kleenex as a smart investing strategy."

Skye laughed. It wasn't exactly a happy sound, but it was an improvement. Still avoiding his eyes, she traced circles on the tabletop. After a moment, she spoke up. "Do you think less of me after seeing me like that last night?"

"Not at all." Hunter's response was emphatic. He took another deep breath, trying to find the answer she needed. "No one would mistake you for anything but a professional field agent, Skye, and a good one." Her eyes lifted to meet his, and he saw the hope in them. He raised his eyebrows and went on in an earnest tone: "I'm terrified of you, frankly. I'm glad you didn't take me out when I snuck up on you last night." His eyes twinkled.

She actually smiled. God, she was beautiful when she smiled.

He ought not be thinking that.

Skye was looking down at her hands again. "Have you known other field agents who...can't keep it together sometimes?"

"Plenty. Good ones, too. As long as you can keep it together in the field, that's what counts." He hunched down in his seat so that his eyes were at the level of her hands, forcing her to look at him. "So. My offer to talk still stands. As I said, I'm not a terrible listener."

Skye took a deep breath. Today's worries were of a whole different kind than what had been troubling her last night. She wasn't even sure where she would begin talking about them. Much of it she couldn't tell anyone.

But some of it she could. And the thought of company and an empathetic ear was appealing.

Before last night, she never would have considered confiding in Lance Hunter. Now, though, it didn't seem quite so crazy. After all, she justified, there wasn't anyone else to talk to. She didn't want to burden Coulson with any more, not when he was already carrying so much. Simmons was still down in the lab with Fitz, and heaven knows Skye wasn't going to interrupt _that_. Hunter had at least proven he could turn off jerk mode long enough to be empathetic. And that he wouldn't lose all respect for her after seeing her in a moment of weakness.

Hunter watched Skye deliberate with a faint feeling of trepidation. His cynical side hoped she would decline his offer, and he could knock back a couple more beers and stagger off to bed numb and unaffected, as usual. But the softer side of Hunter insisted that he couldn't just leave Skye like this. He heard his inner warning bell sounding, reminding him not to care too much. He tried to pretend that, somehow, Skye wasn't finding her way past his walls, and that listening to her talk for a couple of hours wasn't going to change anything.

Skye made up her mind. She tossed her empty bottle in the recycle bin and stood up. Motioning toward the door out to the lounge, she said the words Hunter both hoped and dreaded she'd say: "Okay. I'll take you up on that."


	6. Chapter 6

No, Skye agreed. Hunter was not a terrible listener.

He had sat quietly watching her face for an hour while she spoke, saying things like "Mmm," "Wow," and "God, that must've been awful," in all the right places, with sympathetic facial expressions.

He hadn't known anything about her dad. So Skye told him everything she could, from her childhood in orphanages and temporary homes, to chasing down a redacted SHIELD file, to Coulson and May's encounter with Agent Lumley and the story he had told them about finding her in a destroyed village in China. She told Hunter about her determination to help Coulson do whatever was needed to track down her father and get the Obelisk away from him.

She left out the part about her being an 084. And quite possibly an alien.

Hunter, hearing Skye speak about Coulson, remembered the embrace he had walked in on. "Coulson's become a bit of a father to you, hasn't he?"

The weight of things she couldn't say, worries she couldn't voice, came down hard on Skye, and she just nodded.

"It must've been hard for you, these past few months, to have him gone so much."

She nodded again, Hunter's understanding response helping her to release the tension prompted by his question. "Physically and emotionally," she said quietly. "He was shutting me out."

"Was?" Hunter's eyes lit up as he swelled with self-importance. "Did my advice this morning work out, then?"

She gave him an ironic half-smile, but her eyes were troubled. "I'm not sure it was your advice that did it, but he did bring me in on some things tonight."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," he said approvingly, noticing and wondering about the sadness that had accompanied her statement. "I suppose it's all classified?"

Her wordless response was answer enough.

Hunter broke the silence with an observation. "Gutsy move to go off on your own tonight."

Skye's lips twisted. "Do you think it was stupid?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly smart," he said frankly. "What possessed you to do it?"

Skye's eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. "I just wanted to see him," she whispered. "I just wanted to know."

Skye's anguish was chipping away at Hunter's walls. Between the alcohol he'd consumed and the intoxication of an emotional conversation with Skye, he felt his ability to remain detached slipping away. Without thinking, he moved to sit next to her and gingerly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, not sure how he'd be received. Skye leaned into him and cried quietly into his shoulder. He held her and rubbed her back gently until her tears subsided, just a few minutes this time.

"You know, you scared the hell out of me - us - when you ran off." The words slipped out before he could swallow them, and his attempt at self-editing didn't help. Hunter coughed. Either way, he had given away too much. He was either personally concerned about her, or he considered himself part of the team. Or both.

Skye pulled back. "I'm sorry. It was stupid," she sniffled, brushing tears from her face.

Hunter was quiet. She studied his face, turned in profile to her. This sensitive, thoughtful Lance Hunter was a mystery to her. She was starting to wonder whether most of his machismo was really just an act. Where it came from, she wan't sure. Nor was she sure why she was getting to see beneath it.

After a moment, she said, "I'm sorry I snarked at you before about being divorced. That wasn't cool."

"I'm sorry I twitted you about your Hydra boyfriend." Apologizing didn't come easily to him, but it came more easily when someone else started it.

She remembered. "Yeah, that wasn't very cool either."

"Maybe I was just feeling jealous," he said lightly.

"What? You want a Hydra boyfriend too?" she laughed.

His eyes were unreadable, and an awkward silence settled over them. _What just happened?_ Skye wondered.

Suddenly it sank in.

Skye felt an icy rush of fear course through her, followed immediately by a thrill of excitement. Was - Did Hunter - ?

She stared at him. "...Were you? Jealous?" she whispered.

Hunter held her gaze, a new intensity in his eyes that reminded her of how Miles used to look at her. (And Ward, but she preferred not to think about that.) After a long, charged moment Hunter blinked, lifted his eyebrows apologetically, and opened his mouth to speak -

_CRASH!_

An impossibly tall, brunette woman whom Skye had never seen before strode confidently and noisily into the room, shattering the moment. Skye looked back and forth between the woman and Hunter, confused by how rattled Hunter suddenly seemed.

Meanwhile, Hunter was doing his best not to groan, nor to say anything particularly abrasive or idiotic.

The tall woman broke the awkward silence. "Hi there," she said pleasantly to Skye. "I don't believe we've been introduced." She looked pointedly at Hunter.

He tried very hard not to roll his eyes and stood up. In a gentlemanly voice, he began, "Bobbi, this is Agent Skye. Skye, this is Agent Bobbi Morse..." He trailed off and looked at Bobbi, saw the laughter twinkling in her eyes. He groaned inwardly. He knew she would say it if he didn't.

"...my ex-wife."


	7. Chapter 7

Skye was wide-eyed. "Agent Morse."

"Please, call me Bobbi," she answered with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Skye." She turned to Hunter with a straight face. "Mack needs you. He said something about inventory...?"

Irritation, annoyance, embarrassment, and dread in turn flashed across Hunter's face. Bobbi couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

Hunter found words. "It's the middle of the bloody night. Why does he want to do inventory now?"

Bobbi shrugged, unfazed. "You can ask him when you get there." She gestured toward the door.

Hunter glared for a moment before turning to walk out. He flashed Skye an awkwardly apologetic look on his way through the door.

Bobbi turned to Skye. "Sorry to steal your company," she said with a smile.

Skye wasn't exactly sure how to respond. "Uhh...no problem," she said helplessly. _What the...?_

Bobbi smiled again and turned to follow Hunter out of the room.

They made it about fifty steps down the corridor before he couldn't hold it in any more.

"There is no inventory, is there?"

Bobbi's eyes were laughing. "Nope. You're off the hook, Casanova."

"How long were you spying on me?" he gritted out.

She smiled in amusement at his agitation. "I walked by as Skye was crying on your shoulder. I listened as you were hitting on her."

Hunter bristled. "I wasn't hitting on her."

Bobbi raised an eyebrow. "You sounded pretty smooth."

"I guess it just comes naturally, then," he countered with a self-confident smirk.

Bobbi stared him down, unamused. "Hunter, that girl's been through hell, and it's not nice of you to put her in a situation like that."

He hated it when Bobbi was right. But he had to admit that she was. He had let his heart get way ahead of his head, and he'd been about to put Skye in a terribly awkward position. In a way, Bobbi had saved the day.

Not that he would ever acknowledge it to her face.

"Yes, well, thanks for interfering," he said irritably. "Glad you're around to hand out advice on my _love life_ , of all things."

Bobbi pursed her lips. "I don't care what you do, Hunter. But when your love life has the potential to tear apart the small team SHIELD still has left, I will interfere. You'd better believe it." She arched an eyebrow at him, daring a comeback.

He couldn't let her have the last word, but he couldn't come up with anything terribly clever to say. After all, she had a point. So he settled for muttering "Whatever," and stalking off unceremoniously.

* * * * * * * 

Meanwhile, back in the lounge, Skye was reeling from the events of the last ten minutes. (Could this day get any crazier?) First, Hunter was practically hitting on her. Then, his ex-wife crashed in, and she's a SHIELD agent. And she's here. Which would make things really awkward, if Skye and Hunter were to -

 _Whoa, whoa, back up,_ she reminded herself. _There's nothing going on here._ She didn't even know whether Hunter really meant something, or if he'd just been making a stupid joke.

But those eyes... Skye felt a light shiver pass through her as she remembered the look in Hunter's eyes. She hadn't felt so...what was it? Desired. Affirmed. Valued. Not in a long time.

 _There's a reason for that,_ she reminded herself. _You have terrible taste in men. You pick idiots who lie to you and then turn out to be somebody they're not._

Hunter was new to the team. Skye barely knew where his loyalties lay. Any kind of relationship with him was a terrible risk, much too scary for where she was at right now.

 _If he's really even interested,_ she corrected herself.

She had a feeling he was. She had to admit that she would be, too, if she wasn't talking herself out of it.

It took Skye a long time to fall asleep that night, curled around her pillow, trying not to think of how it had felt to be in Lance Hunter's arms, to see him looking at her that way. She hoped Simmons might be in the frame of mind to talk in the morning.


	8. Chapter 8

Skye's first thought, when she rolled out of bed painfully early the next morning, was irritation at her own reaction the night before. Honestly, there was no knowing whether Hunter had been serious. And if he had been, then what? She's just going to fall all over herself for the next cute agent who comes along and gives her the eyes?

Skye huffed off to tai chi with May, and if her S.O. noticed that Skye wasn't herself that morning, she didn't say anything.

After tai chi, Skye blew off some steam with the punching bag before going to take a long, hot shower. Alone with the water, her thoughts started to clear up.

To be fair, it wasn't just that Hunter was cute. It was that they seemed to have an emotional connection that Skye really missed. He had been a safe place for her to break down, to let her guard down. He seemed to accept and understand her and had listened to her, at a time when she really needed that. That was what she found so attractive. (Okay, truth be told, it didn't hurt that he was nice to look at, too.)

But Skye had learned from her past mistakes. She knew she had a tendency to idealize people, and that made her want to jump right in to a relationship with Hunter, expecting perfection.

Experience had taught her that nobody was perfect. And some people were far, far from it. She had grown since Ward.

Ward again. Why did he keep popping up in her thoughts, when all she wanted was for him to get out? Honestly - her conversations with Hunter were already more real than any of her exchanges with Ward had ever been.

Anyway. Skye sighed. Hunter had probably been messing with her. And if he hadn't... Skye hesitated for a moment, but she knew the truth. It was tempting. Ohh, was it ever tempting. But if Hunter had been serious - and she was leaning toward thinking that he was - she was going to have to let him down gently. She just wasn't ready for anything romantic. Not yet. She wasn't healed enough, and she didn't know him well enough.

* * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Hunter was berating himself for his stupidity the night before. In the light of morning (the very _bright_ light, his headache reminded him), he could see how his impulsivity last night could have ended up shattering his growing friendship and professional relationship with Skye, as well as hurting her badly. That, he really didn't want to do.

He wished that it could be as easy to turn off his thoughts about Skye as it had been to turn them on. _This is why you don't get attached,_ he blasted himself. But regardless of how he felt, he needed to do what was best for her.

He knew he had already mucked things up pretty badly, and he spent most of the morning figuring out how he was going to make it right. In the end, he decided, he really only had one good option. And even that was a risk. Hopefully it would pan out.

* * * * * * *

Skye spent the rest of the morning staying as far away from the main part of the base as possible. Simmons was going to be tied up all day in debriefings with Coulson, May, and Bobbi, so Skye holed up in her room, searching for more information on Coulson's map and trying not to think about what would happen when she ran into Hunter.

But she couldn't avoid him forever. Coulson called the team together for a briefing around 11am, to fill everyone in on the bare details of what had gone down the day before. When Hunter walked into the room, Skye had to exert quite a bit of self-control to keep her heart rate down. She knew her cheeks were burning all the same.

He caught her eye and grimaced apologetically before positioning himself on the opposite side of the room.

Coulson filled them in, confirmed that they had no active field operations on the table at the moment, then assigned the field agents to target practice before dismissing them for the day.

Hunter pulled her aside after the briefing. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked quietly, as everyone else walked down the hall toward the range.

Skye's heart was pounding now, and she felt so much pressure building inside her that she thought she might be about to shatter into a thousand tiny pieces. She hated how much this was getting to her. She nodded.

Hunter's eyes were earnest. "I have to apologize, Skye, for what happened last night. It really wasn't smart of me to joke with you like that, especially not with all you've been through. I could blame it on the alcohol, but I won't; it was just plain bad judgment."

Skye was surprised. "So...that's all it was?" she answered dubiously. "Just a joke?"

"Just an honest effort to make you laugh, which backfired terribly due to my insensitivity," he affirmed with all due self-deprecation. "If it makes you not want to talk with me any more, I would understand that, though it would make me very sad," he added, attempting to lighten the mood with his best puppy dog face.

Skye had mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was relieved. It was just a joke. No more pressure. No more having to struggle with herself to keep from falling head over heels; they were just co-workers. Friends. And that was that.

It's true that her relief was mingled with disappointment. And that she didn't entirely believe what he was saying. But it was better to take it at face value. If he was going to act like it had been nothing, so could she. It was simpler that way.

Hunter was waiting patiently for her response. "Okay," Skye said slowly.

"Am I forgiven, then?" he asked with a smile, pretending he didn't notice the skeptical expression on her face.

Skye nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Just...it would be good to avoid jokes like that in the future," she added firmly.

He winced. "Yeah, I noticed that deer-in-the-headlights response of yours. That was my first clue that I'd made a huge mistake," he said truthfully. Thank God she had bought it. Or if she hadn't entirely, she had at least chosen to go along with it. He gestured down the corridor toward the range, wanting to change the subject and move on. "Shall we go practice shooting some mock Hydra agents?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows.

Skye grinned. "Sure," she answered.

* * * * * * *

At the end of the night, they found themselves in the lounge again, relaxing and talking. Skye was really enjoying this. It was nice to have some sense of normalcy, of family, again. It had been sorely lacking over the last few months of craziness.

For his part, Hunter was determinedly trying to keep himself reeled in. Now that he'd indulged his feelings for Skye, allowed himself to have them, he was finding it difficult to turn off those thoughts. At least he could restrain himself from saying anything about it.

They didn't go too deep that evening - they talked movies, music, home towns (Skye didn't really have one, but at least there was a region of the country where she had spent the most time).

Hunter walked her to her bunk when she was ready to turn in for the night. The thought lingered in his mind that it would be lovely to give her a kiss goodnight; and she may have secretly hoped he would; but neither of them acted on it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This picks up after the end of 2.6, "A Fractured House."

There was silence in the quinjet on the way back home. Hunter was alone with his thoughts, trying to figure out why he'd decided to come back at all.

Agent May had made it pretty clear that he wasn't particularly welcome. He and Bobbi were a series of nasty fights waiting to happen, even if she'd handed him an olive branch by inviting him to stay. And Skye was a complicated mess that perhaps it was better to avoid altogether.

He heaved a sigh. Bobbi shot a sidelong look in his direction, and he smiled tiredly.

It was strange working with Bob again. In some ways, it felt just like old times. Except for when he stopped and remembered what had happened since then.

May's voice came over their comms. "Buckle in for landing," she ordered.

"Home, sweet home," he muttered under his breath.

* * * * * * *

The mood was universally somber back at the Playground, and to Hunter it seemed like a bit much, even after the loss of six agents. Did SHIELD really take losses this hard? It hadn't seemed that way after Izzy died.

As soon as Hunter laid eyes on Skye, passing him in the hallway, he knew there had to be more to the story. She looked like an absolute statue: lips firmly set, hard as stone, not a trace of a laugh or a smile or a snark anywhere about her. She briefly made eye contact with him and nodded to acknowledge his return. He nodded back, his brain suddenly buzzing with questions. He'd be lucky if he got any answers, the way things worked around here.

Hunter, Bobbi, and May filed in to Coulson's office to debrief. May did most of the talking, leaving Hunter with nothing to do but listen and glance at Bobbi out of the corner of his eye. It was surreal being in the same room with her. He had honestly thought he'd never see her again.

On the way out the door, she smiled slightly and said, "Thanks for having my back out there today."

"Of course," he responded automatically. Always. Even if she was a hell-beast ( _who had told her he'd said that?_ ), she was still Bob.

She walked off, leaving Hunter feeling a bit flustered. Clearly, no matter how much he wanted to be, he wasn't entirely over her yet. And his whole "don't-get-attached" philosophy was an absolute flop when it came to her. It wasn't that he wanted to get back together - dear God, no. But he cared about her, certainly. She had a remarkable ability to unsettle him, and at times - like today - he didn't completely understand his own reactions.

But he didn't think he was in love with her. That distinction, unfortunately, increasingly belonged to a young woman who almost certainly didn't reciprocate. A young woman who'd looked like she'd had a really bad day.

Hunter grimaced and rubbed his forehead, starting on the walk toward the kitchen, where he hoped to find someone who could tell him what had gone on around here in his absence.

* * * * * * *

The kitchen was empty. Hunter grabbed a cold beer out of the fridge and wandered out to the lounge.

He found Skye sitting in their usual spot. It made him smile to think of it as that - since that first night he'd found her crying, it had become their unofficial habit to meet here at the end of the day to unwind and talk. Sometimes other agents joined them and they would shoot the breeze, talking about nothing. Other nights, it was just the two of them. Sometimes they too would talk about nothing; sometimes, Hunter would listen as Skye talked out her thoughts. "Processing," he called it. In her mind, Skye facetiously referred to them as "Hunter therapy nights."

He'd never seen her quite as closed off as she was tonight. It made his heart ache.

He tipped an imaginary hat as she caught sight of him. "Waiting for me?" he asked, attempting a cocky grin that was a bit too tired to really be cocky.

Skye mustered a small smile. She looked as numbed and exhausted as he felt. He wished he could make her laugh, lift whatever burden was weighing on her heart so heavily.

"How was your day?" he asked. Clearly, not fabulous.

Her lips tightened. "I really don't want to talk about it," she said in a low voice. "Not tonight. I'd pretty much rather think about anything else right now."

Hunter nodded. Confusion and mystery it would be tonight, then.

"How was the first mission with the ex-wife?" she asked, managing a wicked grin when he rolled his eyes. "When I heard that Coulson had sent you off with May and Bobbi, I had a feeling things might get interesting."

He didn't know where to start. "Juicy details or confusing thoughts?" he quipped, honestly wondering what she was up for hearing.

Her eyebrows quirked in surprise. "Confusing thoughts," she replied, studying him.

Well, this was turning the tables, thought Hunter. He was accustomed to being the listener in their conversations, keeping a comfortable emotional distance by not sharing. Tonight, apparently, that wasn't going to be the case. As she always did, Skye managed to find the cracks in his walls, and he felt them go down.

Hunter hesitated, unsure what to tell her. Being back in the field with Bobbi had resurrected a flood of old emotions, many of which he was still sorting through himself. He wasn't sure what or how much to tell Skye - especially given his slightly less complicated feelings toward her. But at least he knew those weren't reciprocated. In some ways, that made her an ideal confidante for doing some processing of his own.

"It was strange," he began thoughtfully. Skye's nod of encouragement kept him talking. "We'd be fighting side by side, and suddenly it would feel just like old times again." He smiled faintly, remembering those days. "Like we'd go get a drink afterward, share a hotel room." He felt awkward about that detail slipping out. It was true, though - he'd had the strangest sense of déjà vu all day, as if no time had passed, as if things were back the way they used to be. Back before they got bad. He'd wished that could be where he and Bobbi were. But it wasn't.

Hunter had been too busy feeling awkward to notice the look that had flashed across Skye's face. She was quiet now, trying to downplay to herself the shock she'd felt at Hunter's words. All of a sudden it made sense. And she felt a little silly.

Of course Hunter was still interested in his ex. After all, the man never stopped talking about her. And she _was_ practically a goddess - or at least an Amazon woman. Tall, gorgeous, as skilled and deadly a field agent as May. How could Skye possibly have thought Hunter would be attracted to _her_ , when he had Agent Bobbi Morse to compare her with?

Skye wondered if Bobbi was still interested in Hunter, too. Maybe that was why she had busted in at just the right moment the other night.

Wow. Now _that_ was an awkward thought.

Skye realized that Hunter had stopped talking and was looking at her curiously. "What?" she asked.

"Too much information?" he inquired lightly.

Skye shook her head. She was suddenly exhausted. "No," she said. "I'm just really beat. I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep listening tonight. I don't want to fall asleep in the middle of what you're saying."

He nodded. "Tough couple of days, hmm?" he asked, looking at her searchingly.

She nodded.

"Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow?" He sounded concerned.

Skye shrugged. At the moment, she just wanted to go to bed.

"I can walk you to your room," Hunter offered. "Especially if you're not feeling well." But Skye declined. She stumbled off to her bunk alone, leaving a rather confused Lance Hunter in her wake.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon or not canon, I'm giving them 24 hours before the news reaches them about Ward's escape. Just because there are some conversations that have to happen. The show's pace is nonstop right now, and there's no time for developing relationships! I have to cram it in somewhere. :)

A heavy feeling of awkwardness dogged Skye the next day, following her through her morning routine. She definitely didn't want to be in the middle of anything with Hunter and his ex-wife. It bothered her to think that Bobbi might be under the impression that Skye and Hunter had something going on. Or that Skye wanted there to be something going on.

Skye was having a hard time admitting to herself that she _had_ kind of hoped there was something going on. The pace had been just right for her - nice and slow, just friends, building trust and connection. Just real. No blinding, larger-than-life superhero moments. No naïveté. No impulsivity.

She shook off those thoughts. It wasn't going to do her any good to think them. She had to figure out how to clear the air, so she could stop feeling like a horrible person.

There was only one solution. She was going to have to talk to Bobbi.

* * * * * * *

Skye didn't know for sure whether Bobbi had overheard what Hunter had been saying the other night, so it took her a while to figure out how to approach the conversation subtly. After some deliberation, she decided to try the "chatty, overly nosy" approach.

"Good morning!" she began, sliding in next to Bobbi at the table where she was sipping coffee and looking through a SHIELD folder.

Bobbi looked up from her reading and smiled. "Good morning," she replied with a hint of surprise. "How are you?"

They chatted for a little while, about the weather, the coffee, the attack on the UN. After a few minutes, Skye asked, "How was it working with Hunter again?"

Bobbi rolled her eyes, and they both laughed. "He's a good guy to have on your team in the field," she said dryly, "but it was definitely interesting."

Skye carefully adopted a curious, gossipy expression. "Is there still something going on between you two?" she asked in a confidential tone.

Bobbi's eyebrows shot up. "Not on my part," she said emphatically. She looked Skye over carefully.

Skye didn't notice the scrutiny; she was too relieved. She could walk away right now and be done with this conversation. Burden of guilt: lifted. That simple.

But she didn't.

"Do you think he's still interested in you?" she asked, as casually as she could manage, trying to convince herself there was no ulterior motive behind the question. "He talks about you a lot."

Bobbi laughed. "Yeah, not always very complimentary things, from what I hear." She paused to think, a skeptical expression on her face. "I don't think he's really still interested," she said deliberately. "We tried that road. It wasn't a fun one." She sighed. "Hunter just has a hard time moving on. He knows nothing would really work out between us. I think sometimes he just wishes the world were a different place where maybe it could."

Bobbi looked at Skye keenly. "Why do you ask?"

Skye reddened. It was too obvious that she'd been fishing for information. "I, just, uh..." Her brain scrambled to put together a coherent explanation. "Hunter was just making a stupid joke when you walked in the other night, and it probably sounded like he was hitting on me. I didn't know whether you had heard it. But it wasn't anything. And I wanted to make sure you knew that it wasn't anything, in case..." She waved her hand vaguely. Bobbi nodded.

"A stupid joke, huh?" Bobbi paused for a moment before grinning slyly at Skye. "That sounds like Hunter. Terrible jokes are something he's good at."

Skye smiled uncomfortably. "Well, I'm glad to know I didn't upset anything." Bobbi returned the smile with a genuine one, and Skye got up to leave.

"No," Bobbi said softly to herself as Skye walked out of the room. "No, Skye; you didn't upset anything."

* * * * * * *

So, Skye thought as she was leaving, maybe he wasn't still in love with her. Though it had certainly sounded like it, and Skye wasn't sure how good a judge of Hunter's affections Bobbi was. Not that it really mattered, anyway; she and Hunter were just friends.

It wasn't her business.

Skye felt a twinge of regret for running out on him last night, just when he'd been starting to open up. She realized she didn't remember a time when that had actually happened. She hated that she had chosen to bolt, just because it was hard to hear what he was saying. She would do better next time.


	11. Chapter 11

Trip and Simmons joined them in the lounge for an hour or so that evening. Simmons was quiet. Hunter noticed her clouded expression and how Skye seemed unusually solicitous toward her, and he gathered that the reunion with Fitz wasn't going well. That was a pity. 

Skye disappeared to walk Simmons to bed, then returned a while later as Hunter and Trip were comparing models of sniper rifles. She listened, flipping through a magazine, until Trip yawned, looked at the clock, and excused himself to head off to sleep. 

Hunter was a night owl. He knew Skye had to be up at some ungodly hour for tai chi with Agent May, but she seemed to stay up later than she ought to more often than she ought to. He didn't want to flatter himself by thinking it was his company that did it. 

He wished he could stop being hyper-aware of everything she did. 

He set down his ever-present bottle of beer and bobbed his eyebrows at her inquisitively. "No preference on sniper rifles?" he asked with a grin. 

Skye shrugged. "I've only ever used the one model," she reminded him. 

Oh yeah. He forgot, sometimes, how young she was. And how short a time she'd been in the field. 

Skye cleared her throat. "So, did you want to finish the conversation we started last night?" 

Hunter had been hoping she wouldn't bring it up. He'd felt unusually free last night to talk, and had given in to the need to do so. Tonight, his need was battling with his caution, which reminded him that too much self-disclosure opened him up to a lot of pain.

Skye's eyes were dark and compassionate. Looking into them, he felt his determined isolation waver. She was, truly, a different kind of person from most of those he'd known over the last ten years. His nights of listening had shown him that she hadn't been in the business long enough for it to entirely eradicate her innocence and replace it with jaded cynicism. She was still capable of sincerity and attachment. He needed to talk some of this out. She was probably his safest option. 

Plus, he found the prospect of being closer to her, even if it wasn't quite the way he wanted to be, very appealing. 

"Okay," he said slowly. "Where did we leave off?"

"You were talking about how fighting alongside Bobbi felt just like old times again."

He remembered. "Yeah. It was a bit surreal."

Skye hesitated, squashing a pang of insecurity before she asked the next question. "Do you still love her?"

Wow. Okay. They were going to start there. "Well, no. And yes," he answered quietly. He heaved a gusty sigh. Her question had opened the floodgates of his thoughts. "I suppose it's hard to have lived with someone that long, and know her that well, and just stop caring. In that sense, I have a feeling I'll always love her." He paused, and his eyes had something in them that Skye couldn't figure out. "But do I still /love/ her, in the sense of wanting to be with her?" He shook his head. "No."

Skye nodded, not quite understanding. He went on. 

"Bobbi's like this...paragon of gloriousness, this unattainable ideal. The perfect woman, you know? Until you have to live with her." He laughed humorlessly. "I tried. I really tried. But we were always a better match in the field than off it." 

Skye's eyes were empathetic. "What tore you two apart?" 

Hunter thought for a moment. "I think we just wanted different things. I'm a simple man. Give me a pint and a nap, and I'm happy," he reminded her with a half-hearted grin. "Bobbi lived for the job. Even when she was mine, she was never really mine. I always came in a distant second."

Skye nodded. "That would be hard to live with." 

"Yeah, it was. It left rather a bad taste in my mouth as far as SHIELD was concerned, too." Maybe, he reflected, that was why he felt so ambivalent about now being trapped in that organization. 

Skye's voice intruded on his thoughts. "You miss her." It was a statement, not a question. 

He pondered, chin in his hands. "When you're with someone that long, I think it's hard not to feel strange without them. I do miss her, sometimes." He paused, his brow furrowed. "I don't miss the arguing, or the heartache. But sometimes when I see her, I do miss her. It's a bit confusing, really." That was the rub of it, for him. He wouldn't want things back the way they were, and yet he still couldn't get past the way she affected him. He sighed. It didn't make much sense. 

A long moment of silence enveloped them. Then Skye quietly spoke, looking down at her hands. "It's like...you miss how you wish things could have been."

"Exactly." That resonated with Hunter. In fact, it made sense of a lot of his conflicting emotions. It wasn't the reality of marriage to Bobbi that he missed, but the ideal, the moments of perfection, the way he wished things could have been. That was what had kept coming to mind every time he saw Bobbi yesterday. Hunter looked at Skye with surprise. Somehow, she had managed to articulate precisely what he was feeling.

He studied her profile as she studied her hands. "Is that how you feel?" he asked hesitantly. "About the...psycho in the basement?"

"Yeah." Skye didn't look up. "I think, listening to you, it helped me figure out what was going on in my own heart, too." She looked up and smiled at him weakly. Then a shadow crossed her face. "He's not in the basement any more."

What in the world did that mean? Hunter's bewilderment must have been evident on his face, because Skye quickly clarified. 

"Coulson had him shipped out yesterday. The senator who was leading the push for anti-SHIELD legislation is Ward's brother. He wanted Ward. So we made him a deal. He's going to put Ward on trial."

Hunter blew past the incredulity that he'd been back for almost twenty-four hours and no one had told him that yet. Whatever. 

Ward. So that was his name. Hunter didn't think he'd ever heard Skye say that name before, seen the hardness that came over her features when she said it. This must've been what was so upsetting to her last night. 

"How are you doing with it?" he asked gently. 

"About as well as can be expected," she replied sardonically. 

"Were you sad to see him go?"

"No," she answered, fidgeting with her hands. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Not exactly."

Hunter tried not to think about what her answer to his next question might be. "Do you still love him?" 

Skye let out a short, bitter laugh. "The man I thought I loved doesn't exist," she said flatly. "The man I thought I loved jumped out of a plane to save Simmons. The real guy pushed her and Fitz out of one." Her eyes were steely. "There's nothing in the real Ward to love. He's a lying, manipulative, murdering psychopath. I'm just angry at myself for believing him for so long."

" _And_ you miss what you wish could have been," Hunter repeated gently. Skye visibly softened. 

She nodded, slowly, tears springing up in her eyes, brimming but not falling. "Yeah," she whispered. "Yeah, I do."

Hunter remembered something he'd heard a long time ago. "Even if the man you loved didn't exist," he said carefully, "he was real to you. Finding out his true nature was like losing that person you loved."

Skye nodded, her eyes glassy. "Like the real Ward killed my Ward," she whispered fiercely. 

Hunter tried not to mind how much it bothered him to hear Skye call another man hers. She certainly wasn't his, that he should be possessive. "Yeah," he affirmed feebly, pulling his focus back to what she needed. "Have you dealt with losing him?"

She shook her head, pressing her lips together tightly to keep them from trembling. 

Hunter understood. "You've been too busy beating yourself up about it to grieve."

She nodded, and a tear trailed down her cheek. A watery, self-conscious laugh escaped her lips. "I'm always breaking down in front of you," she lamented. 

"I guess I just have the touch," he quipped with an empathetic smile. 

Her attempt at an answering smile faltered, and he beckoned her over. "Come on," he said. "I'm as good a shoulder as any to cry on, right?"

She nodded. _Better than most._

Skye grieved that night, sobbing for the man she'd lost, the hopes she'd lost. Hunter held her tightly, offering what strength and comfort he could with his presence. After a while, when Skye's sobs quieted, he looked down to find that she had fallen asleep. 

The next day, Skye vaguely remembered being carried to her bunk, Hunter taking off her shoes, tucking her in, and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead before whispering good night. 

She awoke in the morning with two realizations: first, that her heart felt lighter than it had in months, as if the dark corner Grant Ward had claimed was hers again. 

Second, that it was going to take a lot of willpower not to fall hopelessly in love with Lance Hunter.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm. So I realized that AO3 doesn't magically update my chapters when I think about it. Sorry for the delayed updates! Here are three new installments. Watch for a new chapter woven around this week's episode by Thursday or Friday.

Hunter's less attractive qualities were on full display when Skye entered the kitchen that morning, hair still damp from her shower, muscles sore from her morning workout, and eyes bleary from too little sleep.

"You can't brew them both caffeinated," he was declaring irritably to Bobbi, who was unruffled and barely hiding a smile as she went on measuring regular coffee into both coffee pots. "There are people at this base who drink decaf, you know. Good God." He turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose, and saw Skye standing in the doorway. His hands dropped to his sides loosely, one holding a coffee mug.

"Good morning," he said, with a look on his face somewhere between irritation and embarrassment.

Bobbi, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them, smirked. Neither Skye nor Hunter noticed.

"Good morning," Skye said, trying to hide her amusement. She nodded to the coffee mug in Hunter's hand. "I thought you drank regular coffee?" she asked.

"I do," Hunter replied in an aggrieved tone. "I'm just trying to be considerate of the people we share living space with, unlike some others." He shot Bobbi a death glare, which did not affect her in the slightest.

"Coulson's called a meeting in his office," Bobbi informed Skye matter-of-factly. "He requested extra coffee. After it's brewed," she added, turning pointedly to Hunter, "I'll start some decaf."

Skye stifled a laugh as Hunter, lacking any good response, simply glared at Bobbi.

"You didn't tell me Coulson had requested it," he finally muttered.

"You didn't ask," Bobbi answered, with a jovial tilt of her head. She smiled at Skye and sailed out of the room with a stack of coffee mugs as Hunter spluttered.

Skye bit her lip, trying not to grin at his expense. Bobbi certainly did have a way of bringing out the worst in him. And of savoring every minute of it.

Hunter leaned his elbows on the island, rubbing his temples as he tried to collect himself. Skye walked over toward the counter to grab a piece of bread for toast.

"How'd you sleep?"

Hunter's simple question very nearly made Skye jump out of her skin. Everything from the night before came back to her afresh - Hunter's understanding words, his strong support as she wept, his tenderness in tucking her in. She flushed, and she noticed what felt like a flock of butterflies taking off in her stomach. She didn't dare turn around, knowing that her face would instantly give away her reaction.

Instead, she busied herself with the toaster settings. "Pretty well," she said lightly. "You?" She plunked two pieces of bread into the toaster, pushed them down, and, satisfied that the color had faded from her cheeks, turned around.

Hunter was looking at her steadily, and she saw the softness in his features that he seemed to reserve only for her. "I slept well, thank you," he responded. "It helped to be able to talk things out last night."

Skye nodded, a little uncomfortable. She cleared her throat. "I feel bad," she said, avoiding his gaze. "We started out talking about you and Bobbi and ended up talking about me." She tapped a finger on the countertop, mentally cursing the toast for taking so long.

"It's all right," Hunter said casually, the strange moment of intimacy between them apparently broken. "I think I worked out what I needed to, and I think perhaps you did, too?"

The concern in his eyes made Skye's breath catch in her throat, and she nodded, forcing a smile that she hoped looked unaffected.

"Good," he said quietly. "So -"

At that moment, Bobbi walked back in. "Coffee's ready," she said apologetically, as if she knew she were intruding on something. "Skye," she added hesitantly, "Coulson wants you in there, too. Why don't you take the coffee pots? I'm going to grab a couple more mugs and I'll be right behind you."

Skye nodded, grateful for an excuse to leave before she said or did anything she would regret. She grabbed a pot of coffee in each hand and headed off toward Coulson's office.

Bobbi stood, looking at Hunter, and tilted her head in the direction of Skye disappearing down the hallway. "How's that going?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Bobbi - it's not - I'm not -"

"Oh, come on, Hunter," she said, her tone both serious and teasing. "I know those moon eyes."

He glared.

Her face softened. "Look, just...be careful, okay?" Her eyes searched his. "With your heart, and with hers."

He shook his head dismissively. "Well, I don't think she's interested," he said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms and leaning against the counter.

Bobbi walked over to the coffee machines and began measuring out decaf to brew in the extra carafe. "I wouldn't count on that," she said knowingly, with a small smile.

Hunter tried not to give away the thrill that shot through him at her words. "What, do you know something I don't?" he asked, trying to sound mocking.

"I don't know anything for sure," she qualified. "But I wouldn't give up just yet. Your Casanova charms may still work their magic." She gathered the remaining coffee mugs off the counter and was out of the room before he had fully processed what she said.

It took him five minutes to realize that they'd made off with all the regular coffee. And another five to realize that Bobbi had said the last sentence without irony.

* * * * *

Exactly how Hunter managed to be in the hallway when Skye came out of the meeting, she wasn't sure. It's possible that he had been loitering out there for some time, but whether he was being nosy or just stalking the coffee was anybody's guess.

He was leaning against the wall in that casual way that she usually found particularly distracting, but she wasn't distracted by it this time.

Hunter stood up as soon as he saw her. "How was the meeting?" he asked nonchalantly.

Skye lifted a hand to brush her hair back from her face, and Hunter frowned. "What's the matter?" he asked, suddenly both alert and worried. "Your hands are shaking."

Skye's voice was low. "Ward escaped."

Hunter blinked, a little confused. That was bad, definitely - but bad enough to disconcert Skye like this? He didn't understand it. He looked at her questioningly, but she just returned his gaze with a look of resolution papering over barely constrained panic. "I don't understand," he said helplessly. "I mean, I know that it's bad, but - is there something I'm missing?"

Skye's eyes cleared, realization dawning in them. He didn't know. "He's obsessed with me," she hissed quietly. "That's the reason Coulson kept sending me down to interrogate him. I'm the only person he would talk to. He has this sick, deranged fantasy that somehow it's all going to work out and we're going to be together."

Ah. Now that made sense.

"Does Coulson think you're in danger?" Hunter asked, fighting down a growing sense of alarm.

Skye pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Not immediately. He doesn't want me leaving the base, but he doesn't think Ward can find us. Not this quickly. But he's resourceful. Coulson's not sure what his plan might be, but it could involve me." Her voice was steady, and Hunter was impressed by how quickly she'd regained her composure. "We're going to send out a team to go after him, but it's going to take some time to track him down. Bobbi and Koenig are still in there, figuring out where to start."

"And what are your orders?" he asked lightly.

"I have a special project I'm working on for Director Coulson." She wouldn't meet his gaze, and he gathered that it was classified. "He wants me buried inside the Playground, as far from any of the entrances as possible, just in case."

"Could Ward really make his way in here, as secure as this facility is?" Hunter asked in surprise.

Skye's eyes were unflinchingly serious. "He's extremely good at what he does."

Hunter realized that his hands, at his sides, were balling into fists. He nodded, willing himself to relax and take a deep breath. Punching a wall wasn't going to fix anything. He exhaled slowly. "Well, I should let you get to it, then."

Skye nodded, a little disappointed that they had to part company. But the other developments calling for her attention quickly took precedence in her mind. She locked eyes with Hunter for a moment, then turned and walked purposefully down the hall toward her room to get her laptop.

Hunter turned on his heel and knocked at Coulson's office door. After a brief pause, he heard a muffled, "Come in."

Hunter opened the door and walked inside, brushing past Bobbi and Billy Koenig, who were on their way out.

Coulson acknowledged Hunter's presence with a nod, clearly preoccupied. "We were just finishing up," he said curtly by way of explanation. "What can I do for you?"

Hunter walked over to the desk, behind which Coulson sat and Agent May stood silently. "Director, do you have any orders for me at the moment?" he asked, folding his hands behind his back in an at-ease position, an old habit from his SAS days.

"No, I do not, Agent Hunter. Is that all you want to know?" Coulson seemed irritated by the interruption.

Hunter took a deep breath, trying to ignore the withering glare he was sure was coming from the direction of Agent May. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to be assigned to guard Skye."

Coulson's eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling.


	13. Chapter 13

Coulson's surprise lasted only a moment, as he clearly had too much else on his mind to waste time being surprised. He glanced over at May, who gave a single, curt nod, then looked back to Hunter.

"You may have that assignment, for the time being," he pronounced tersely. He slid his own personal ICER across the desk to Hunter, who looked at it a bit askance and raised an eyebrow.

Coulson answered his unasked question. "Grant Ward is our ticket to SHIELD being able to operate free of interference from the US Government. We need him alive. If, God forbid, he gets in here, you will subdue him with non-lethal force. Are we clear?"

Hunter nodded crisply. "Yes, sir." He picked up the ICER and tucked it into his belt, behind his back.

"And Hunter?" Coulson added, looking at him steadily. "Skye is working on a classified research operation. She is not at liberty to discuss with you anything she is doing."

Hunter nodded again. "Right, so no asking questions or peering at her laptop screen or anything like that," he said ironically.

Coulson's face didn't register a hint of amusement. "Precisely," he affirmed. Then his expression softened, just for a moment. "If anything happens, keep her safe," he said, locking eyes with Hunter, concern written across his face.

"I will," Hunter confirmed.

* * * * *

Thanks to Koenig's sneaky tracking methods, Hunter found Skye holed up in one of the small unused rooms deep in the warren of the Playground. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, since the room had no furniture.

He stuck his head in the door. "Do you even still have wifi in here?" he asked jokingly.

A smile blossomed across Skye's face.

"I come bearing gifts," he announced, walking across the room to set a mug of coffee and two pieces of warm, freshly buttered toast down next to her. "I think you forgot these."

"What are you doing here?" she asked with surprise, folding her laptop screen down halfway to hide what she'd been working on.

"Coulson assigned me to guard you," he replied mildly, finding a comfortable place to lean against the wall opposite her.

Skye's eyes widened, and she looked at him skeptically. "Did he tell you that I'm working on something -"

"Totally classified, yeah, yeah, I got it," he said carelessly. "I promise I won't try to peer over your shoulder. I'll stay right here where I'm supposed to be." He smiled wryly, and Skye felt a little flutter in her chest. She cleared her throat and reopened her laptop, suddenly ridiculously happier than she had a right to feel.

It lasted a moment before reality set in again. She picked up a piece of toast and bit into it.

After a few minutes, she paused from her research and looked up at Hunter to find him watching her. "Thanks," she said quietly. "For this" - she gestured at the food - "and for being here. I mean, I know I've got some skills, but I don't think I could take Ward in a fight."

"Well, you shouldn't have to," he answered, folding his arms across his body and shifting his weight. "I'll be here."

Skye smiled. "Uhhh, Hunter?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go get a chair or something?"

He agreed it was probably a good idea, and managed to find a chair that wasn't completely uncomfortable in a nearby, unused exam room. He set it up across from her and continued his watch.

After a few more minutes, Skye spoke again. "Hunter?" she began hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he responded.

"Could you maybe not stare at me the whole time? It's a little unnerving."

"Right. Sorry." He decided to start by trying to count the cracks in the bare walls.

* * * * *

The initial tension of the day, and of Ward's escape, slowly melted into tedious monotony.

Some time later, Skye sighed in exasperation, setting down the laptop and sliding back to rest against the wall.

Hunter, who'd been fiddling with the ICER to pass the time, looked up. "Having trouble?" he asked.

Skye rubbed her face with her hands. "This is just mind-numbing and frustrating," she grumbled. Her own steadily mounting anxiety at Coulson's condition wasn't making it any easier to find answers.

"Maybe you need a break," Hunter suggested. "Too much thinking for too long is enough to numb anybody's mind."

"Yeah," Skye sighed. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall.

Hunter watched her, reflecting that it was tremendously unfair that he was stuck in an empty room with a beautiful woman and wasn't allowed to stare at her.

Skye opened her eyes to find him looking. She smiled a little self-consciously, suddenly feeling the awkwardness of being alone in a room with the man whose shoulder she'd been sobbing on last night, who had carried her to bed. Whom she felt increasingly drawn to in a not-so-platonic way.

"I'm really surprised that Coulson assigned me a bodyguard," she remarked, trying to think of anything besides how fluttery his attention made her feel.

Hunter shrugged noncommittally. "He seemed really concerned about your safety," he replied truthfully. "I think he cares about you quite a bit."

A small smile crept onto Skye's face. Coulson really was the closest thing to a father she had ever had. Her smile faded as she thought about him, sleep-deprived, compulsively carving. She had to figure out this alien map, or code, or whatever it was. Fast.

Skye remembered that Hunter was probably expecting an answer. "He was the first person at SHIELD to really care," she agreed. "Or to see anything good in me."

"He's not the only one who does," Hunter said quietly. His tone was mild, his expression neutral, but his eyes, fixed on Skye, were intense with some emotion - but whether it was simply affectionate friendship or something more, she honestly couldn't tell.

She was dumbstruck for a moment, uncertain how to respond. Her mind was a blur of thoughts - impetuous voices screaming to go over there and kiss him, cautious voices reminding her how awkward that would be if that wasn't what he meant, fearful voices reminding her of her horrible track record with men.

She played it safe. Better that than to ruin what was becoming a really beautiful friendship. "Thank you," she said quietly. Then, addressing the elephant in the room, she continued. "Also, thank you for listening last night. And...for everything." _Like being so incredibly understanding and strong and tender at all the right moments._

Hunter smiled, looking down at his hands. "You're welcome," he said quietly. "Thank you for listening, and for understanding what I was feeling." His eyes flicked up to meet hers, and the vulnerability in his face nearly took Skye's breath away. She found herself wondering if Bobbi had ever seen him this stripped of his defenses.

Skye blinked, and looked down at her laptop. It was a convenient excuse to break this moment that was too vulnerable, too intense, too confusing. "I should...probably get back to work," she said lamely.

"Yeah," agreed Hunter. "I'll be right here if you need me." He grinned at her, albeit a bit weakly.

Hunter watched Skye type and click and read for some time, studying the way her lips moved when she read and her forehead scrunched up when she was concentrating, until he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be staring.


	14. Chapter 14

Skye opened her door quietly the next morning and nearly tripped over Hunter, who was sitting beside the door in the dim hallway, fighting drowsiness. He'd been on guard duty since yesterday, not leaving her side except for trips to the bathroom (when he would clear the room first before sending her in alone and guarding the door).

He was alert and on his feet in an instant. "Morning," Skye whispered, trying not to wake everyone in the base. "I'm going to go work out with May. Do you want to get some sleep?"

Hunter blinked bleary eyes at her and nodded. "I'll probably be more use to you after some rest," he admitted. "And I have a feeling Agent May could handle Ward."

Skye smirked. "Last time they met, it didn't go well for him."

They looked at each other for a moment. Hunter fought the urge to cup her cheeks in his hands, kiss her, and tell her to be careful. Instead, he settled for smiling. "Go work out," he said affectionately. "You need to build up those muscles."

She grinned mischievously. "Watch out; I might just take you down," she teased.

"I'd like to see that," he grinned back. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he turned to head off toward his bunk.

Skye shook herself a little when she realized how openly flirty that exchange had been.

* * * * *

"So," Agent May asked mildly, as Skye sat on a bench, wrapping her hands to go a few rounds with the punching bag. "What's going on with you and Hunter?"

Skye's jaw slackened. Her brain scrambled for a response that May wouldn't see right through. Had it been that obvious?

She gave up and decided to go with the truth. "Honestly, I have no idea."

May's lips tightened into a thin line. "Did you know he requested that Coulson assign him to keep you safe?"

Skye's eyes widened. "No."

May arched an eyebrow at her. "Do you think he has feelings for you?"

Skye looked up from fumbling with the wrapping. "I don't really know," she admitted.

May paused. "Do you have feelings for him?" she asked, more gently.

Skye's cheeks reddened, and she lowered her gaze back to her hands. That was all the answer May needed.

"How long has this been going on?"

"A couple of weeks, maybe," Skye mumbled, wondering why she felt like the naughty kid in the principal's office. She looked up at May. "Am I breaking some kind of rule?"

May hesitated before shaking her head, her lips still pressed into a thin line. "No, but I don't know what you see in him, Skye. He's good-looking, certainly, but he's insubordinate, abrasive, arrogant -"

"Don't say that," Skye interrupted quietly. May stopped, surprised. "He can be cocky, okay, true. He can be insubordinate. But he's not abrasive, or arrogant. Not when you get to know him."

May's eyes softened, and she sat down next to Skye. "This is about more than just a fling, isn't it?" she asked. "You really care about him?"

Skye nodded, embarrassed to feel tears welling up in her eyes. Mercifully, they didn't fall.

May spoke in a measured tone. "Relationships between agents can be complicated. Even dangerous, if they begin to affect your judgment in the field." May looked Skye over critically, but not unkindly. "Are you sure you're ready for something like this? After...?" She let the question hang in the air.

"No," Skye replied sharply. "No, I'm not sure." She blew out in frustration.

"Hunter's loyalty to SHIELD has always been in question. You do know that, right?" May eyed her warily.

Skye nodded.

"That's something you need to work out before you take action on anything. I want you to know what you're getting into." Concern laced her voice.

Skye nodded again. "I know," she whispered.

Silence fell between them for a few minutes. Then Agent May spoke quietly. "Skye, I will trust your judgment with Hunter. You have the ability to see good in people that I can't." She sighed, then continued in a more urgent tone. "I can't tell you whether you are ready. You're the only one who can know that. But I will tell you that a relationship with another agent isn't easy. You have to be able to leave it all behind when you are on a mission. You will sometimes be separated. Life is uncertain. You worry not only about the mission, but also about another person's safety."

Skye pressed her lips together tightly. She would worry anyway.

May looked tired, and Skye suddenly realized she was speaking from experience.

"Is it worth it?" Skye asked quietly.

Agent May smiled faintly, the shadows of pleasant memories and regrets washing across her face.

"Yes," she said softly. "For the right person, it really is."

"How do I know whether I'm ready?"

May's lips quirked regretfully. "I wish I could tell you," she replied. "But I suggest you decide what your answer will be before the question comes up."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missing scenes before, during, and post-episode 2.07, "The Writing on the Wall." For those lamenting the lack of Skye/Hunter scenes in this episode, enjoy. ;) Picks up immediately after the last chapter.

Hunter's alarm went off after ninety minutes - just long enough for one good REM cycle, which he knew would carry him through at least most of the day. And short enough that he was pretty sure Skye would still be finishing her morning workout. It was usually an hour of tai chi, half an hour with the punching bag, and another half an hour on the treadmill.

Not that he was keeping track.

He showered and put on fresh clothes, then stopped by the kitchen for a cup of black coffee.

When Skye and May walked out of the gym, rumpled and sweaty, he was there, leaning against the wall in khaki cargo pants and a chambray T-shirt, looking almost as if he'd had a full night's rest.

Skye had to admit that she was distracted by the leaning this time. Her heart thumped as she remembered what May had said about Hunter requesting guard duty. And here he was, back again so soon. He was really taking it seriously.

"Good morning," he said amiably, falling in to walk beside her.

"Good morning," Skye answered, feeling a bit breathless. She noticed her heart rate was elevated. _It's just the aftereffects of the workout, honestly,_ she brushed it off.

May glanced at her and said nothing.

* * * * *

Hunter whiled away the time pacing in the hall outside the bathroom as Skye showered, dressed, and blew her hair dry. He'd forgotten how long it took women to get ready in the morning.

"Lovely," he said when she emerged at last. "Now, can we go get something to eat? I'm starving," he added plaintively.

Skye was torn between rolling her eyes and shooting him a dirty look.

They chatted lightly over breakfast, Hunter trying to keep her mind off her worries with stories of past missions gone haywire. It was strange spending this much time with him, Skye reflected, and doing everything together. It almost felt...domestic. It was strangely comfortable.

They were leaving the kitchen when they saw Coulson striding purposefully in their direction.

He stopped them. "Hunter, we've worked out a strategy for finding Ward," he said crisply. "I'm going to need you on the away team." Coulson shot Skye a meaningful look. She flinched and then blinked at him in infuriated disbelief, masking it almost as quickly as it appeared on her face.

Hunter didn't miss her reaction. He knew he'd tipped his hand by requesting to guard Skye. He had a feeling that he'd be on the away team even if Coulson didn't need him there. What he didn't know was whether it was Coulson's preference or Skye's.

"I understand you haven't had much sleep." Coulson addressed Hunter again.

"That's right, sir."

"We're going to need you sharp out there. You've got three and a half hours before the plane leaves. I think that's about enough time to take a nap and suit up."

"Yes, sir." He certainly was "sirring" Coulson a lot lately. Maybe it was the subconscious realization that he was falling in love with the man's surrogate daughter.

Hunter exchanged looks with Skye, who was inwardly cringing but outwardly trying to smile casually. "Thanks," she said.

"Any time," he responded. He walked away down the hall, glancing over his shoulder a couple times at Coulson and Skye still standing there.

Skye waited for him to be out of earshot before hissing, "That was subtle." She was mortified.

"I had a talk with Agent May while you were in the shower," Coulson said matter-of-factly. "We thought it might be helpful for you to have a minimum of...distractions right now. I think you've already got enough to think about at the moment, hmm?" Coulson looked at her mildly, but concern colored his features. Skye realized he was trying to protect her from one more confusing thing to worry about.

She wanted to protest that the combined stresses of his condition and Ward's escape were the real things distracting her, and that moments with Hunter were the only times she felt relief from the constant pressure. But it wouldn't really make a difference. They needed Hunter on the away team. And it would be unthinkably awkward to voice her feelings to Coulson - especially with him gazing at her paternally like that. Skye wondered briefly if this was what it was like to be sixteen years old, bringing home a boy to introduce to Dad.

"Fine," she replied simply, avoiding having to discuss it with him for now. "I'll go grab my laptop and keep looking for some answers." She paused. "Do you want me away from the entrances again?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded, eyebrows furrowed.

It was lonely researching in a room by herself all day, and the base felt strange that night, with the field agents all gone, Ward out there somewhere. Coulson had asked Mack to sleep in the room next door to Skye's, just in case anything happened.

Skye lay awake and stared at the ceiling, her thoughts too busy to let her sleep, and no one around tonight to listen as she talked them out. After awhile, deciding she might as well use the time to do something productive, she walked down to Coulson's office, hoping to grab the file of carving photos and stare at them for the hundred and twelfth time.

That was when she found him carving alone, and watched him break the knife in the wall. The force he must have been using hurt her to think about. She had no idea how much more the next 48 hours would hurt.

* * * * * * *

It was like a country song, Hunter reflected ironically. He was sitting on a bus in a cowboy hat, hunting down the ex-boyfriend of the woman he was falling for.

It was a bit ridiculous, really, when you thought about it that way.

He felt almost relieved at first when Ward got on Bobbi's bus, and then grimly resigned when the man switched on to his. He was glad Bobbi had made it out safely. This Ward fellow _was_ good. Dangerous. Smart. And unpredictable. Hunter could understand why Skye had been terrified at the thought of him coming after her.

Hunter's fist clenched reflexively as he remembered Skye clinging to him like a lifeline as she sobbed out the pain caused by Ward and his betrayal. Fury flared in Hunter's chest, and he had to remind himself that this was a mission, not a personal vendetta. Still, as Ward settled into a seat a few rows ahead of him, it took every ounce of Hunter's self-control and professionalism not to go for a good clean shot right there on the bus.

It galled him, later, to realize that Ward had known he was there all along. And that he had managed to slip away from the tavern while Hunter was on watch.

* * * * * * *

Back at the base, Hunter had managed to snag a turn to unwind with the game system - Mack was apparently busy elsewhere - when Skye stuck her head in the door. "Coulson's calling everyone together," she told him. "He wants to answer some questions about what happened over the last couple of days."

Hunter's heart leapt at the sound of her voice. He took in the sense of what she had said and nodded. "Good," he said approvingly. He'd heard the rumors flying since they'd returned to base, but had philosophically decided to wait to hear it from Coulson's lips - or perhaps Skye's - before coming to any conclusions.

He shut off the game console and turned to her. "How are you doing?" he asked. He hadn't seen her in days, as she'd been in Coulson's office ever since he returned. She took a step into the room, and immediately he noticed a significant change in her countenance - as if a thousand-pound weight had been removed from her shoulders. A spontaneous smile broke across his face.

"What?" she asked self-consciously.

"You look like you've lost a million worries since I saw you last," he answered. He refrained from telling her, as he was thinking, how much he'd missed her.

She smiled, a genuine, unshadowed smile. "Yeah," she answered. "Come on, let's go. You can hear why."

He followed her out of the room and down the hall. The unpleasant thought had crossed his mind, briefly, that perhaps Skye's relief had had something to do with his absence. But it seemed like it was more to do with what was going on with Coulson.

She stayed beside him when they arrived for the meeting, and stood rather closer to him than was strictly necessary as Coulson addressed the team.

Surely that was a good sign.

As they filed out after the meeting, Hunter pulled Skye aside into a little alcove. "Is that what you'd been working on?" he asked, nodding back toward Coulson's office.

Skye nodded, holding his gaze for a moment before dropping it. "Now you understand why it was classified."

Hunter exhaled forcefully. "So, I guess we're looking for a city now, eh?"

Skye rolled her eyes. "I have a feeling I know what I'll be doing with the laptop every spare minute until we find it." She knew she probably should be feeling awkward around Hunter, given the mortifying exchange with Coulson a few days ago; but she couldn't help but simply enjoy being in his company.

Hunter found himself smiling a bit too proudly and affectionately, then coughed. "Well, I'm really glad Coulson isn't cracking up," he said.

"Me too," she sighed, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes. Her relief was palpable. "You have no idea."

He almost kissed her. It was a perfect moment, really. Except that he wasn't sure whether she would slap him.

Skye opened her eyes to find him gazing at her, a conflicted expression briefly on his face before he schooled it away. The flutters kicked up in her chest, as her attraction to him warred with caution and foreboding. She hadn't forgotten the discussion she and Agent May had had. SHIELD was too fragile right now to play around with relationships that might end up creating schism on the team. The last thing they needed was another Hunter-Bobbi dynamic. Or, God forbid, another Ward situation. She needed to be sure of this before she took action on anything, for her own sake and for SHIELD's. And she wasn't, not yet. She really hadn't even had time to think about it.

Hunter noticed the faintly panicked look that swept over her face and took a step back, reducing the intensity of their interaction. "What are you up to now?" he asked.

Skye mustered up a wicked grin, the struggle within her quieting with the change in subject. "Coulson handed off Bakshi's phone to me. I'm going to go mine it for everything I can find."

Hunter raised his eyebrows, impressed. "That's a nice resource to have. As is the man himself."

"It really is. I wish we didn't have to be grateful to Ward for it." She frowned, her eyes searching the dark corners of the hallway, as if she expected to find Ward lurking there.

"I wonder what game he's playing," Hunter mused. "He knew we were there. He wanted us to find everything the way he'd left it. I don't know if he's trying to help us or get us to lower our defenses towards him."

Skye shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine," she answered acerbically. She looked up at him. "I should probably get to work," she admitted.

"Would you like some company?" he suggested without thinking.

"You're free?" she answered, a little surprised.

"Well, that's the best part of having no technical skills whatsoever," he replied with a wry grin. "That's why I stopped learning at some point. You lot with all your computer and mechanical abilities, you never get a break. But when you don't have the skills, you don't get called up for the extra work." He winked.

Skye grinned at him. "Come on," she said. "I'll teach you how to hack a phone."

"Oh no!" he answered emphatically. "I'll come to keep you company, but I'm not gonna watch a thing you're doing. I don't want to know." He grinned.

* * * * * * *

Hunter'd been uncertain at first about being in Coulson's office without him there. But Skye reassured him that as long as he didn't start going through the file cabinets, he'd be fine.

He had stepped out to grab them both some coffee when Ward called. Skye was still standing, holding the phone to her chest, when he returned from the kitchen.

"What _is_ this music?" he asked with feigned disgust as he came through the door. He took in Skye's ashen face and set expression and quickly put down the coffee mugs. "What happened?"

"Ward called," she said emotionlessly.

Alarm flooded Hunter's face. "Here, or...?"

"Bakshi's phone."

Phew. Hunter breathed again. "What did he say?"

Skye was staring at a random spot on the wall. "He wanted to make sure we'd received his gift," she spat out, as if the words left a bad taste in her mouth. "Said he has some personal matters to attend to. And that he'd see me soon. He promised." Her eyes flicked up to meet his, and he saw the numbed-out terror in them.

Hunter's eyebrows shot up. "We're not going to let him anywhere near you," he stated emphatically. He took an uncertain step toward Skye, who seemed frozen in place, her hand that held the phone beginning to tremble. Hunter's heart was nearly exploding with the need to take away her fear, to make her to feel safe. Impulsively, he crossed the distance between them and folded her into his arms.

Skye clung to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, trying to disappear into the security he offered. After a moment, Hunter stroked her hair, saying, "Come on. Let's get you away from the windows."

Skye nodded mutely. She picked up her laptop and Bakshi's phone as Hunter stopped the record player.

They relocated to a room nearer the bowels of the Playground, Hunter acquiring an ICER from the armory along the way, more for Skye's peace of mind than out of a real fear that Ward was imminently about to breach the base.

He took up his now-accustomed guard position in a folding chair. After a while, as Skye's nerves settled down, she found herself glancing up at him frequently. He was true to his word and wasn't watching a thing she was doing. He was, however, watching her with naked concern. She felt a little ashamed of how utterly Ward's promise had shaken her. But Hunter, though worried, didn't seem to be faulting her for it.

Her thoughts kept drifting back to the feeling of utter rightness of being in his arms, as if the craziness and danger of the world had faded and everything was safe, everything made sense again.

Skye took a few deep breaths. This connection between the two of them seemed to be multiplying in intensity by the day. It was reaching a tipping point, where they were going to have to define exactly what was going on.

Skye had a feeling the question was coming soon. She was going to have to figure out what her answer would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They _were_ standing close to each other in that scene. I liked it. :)


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, Coulson called Skye into his office. "How are you this morning?" he asked solicitously as she entered, looking up from the file he'd been perusing.

She grinned. "Better, now that you've broken up with the crazy wall."

Coulson's answering smile was understated, but genuine. "I think we're all relieved," he agreed.

"So," Skye said, remembering. "Do you want me to get started searching for the city today?"

Coulson hesitated. "Why don't you take the morning off," he said diplomatically. "I think we've earned a quick moment to catch our breath before we launch into the next phase. But just a quick moment. We have to stay ahead of Hydra." Skye nodded. "We'll reconvene this afternoon to get started."

"Sounds good." Skye was just turning to leave when he spoke again.

"Skye, in light of Ward's call yesterday, I think it would be wise for you to be armed at all times. I don't think you need to be under guard-" he raised a questioning eyebrow, and Skye nodded, understanding - "but I do want you to stay inside the base and preferably near other agents."

"I will, sir." Skye swallowed hard, trying not to let her unease show. She wouldn't hesitate to take down Ward if he got in here. But she hated to think what would happen if she couldn't.

"Let me clarify," Coulson said reassuringly. "As far as I know, our location is still secure. We swept Bakshi and his phone for any tracking devices before bringing them back to base. It sounds like Ward's personal business is the first item on his agenda, before trying to find us. I'm sure we're all wondering what it is," he added with a frown. "Anyway, all that to say, I don't think you're in any imminent danger. All this is just...precautions."

Skye nodded and took a deep breath, willing the tension in her neck and shoulders to release. "Thank you," she said quietly to Coulson.

He nodded acknowledgement. "You're welcome. Now go do something fun for the rest of the morning. It's rare we get a break around here." His lips curved in a wry grin.

Skye laughed. "Yes, sir."

Well, this was perfect, actually. Skye made her way back to her room to grab a couple of things. She would take advantage of the lull between research projects to do a little research of her own.

She found a quiet, empty room not too far from the lab, opened her laptop, plugged in her little printer, and went to work.

* * * * * * *

On the other side of the base, Hunter raised the M&P up to eye level and squeezed off five shots in quick succession, then brought the target closer to examine it. A 1.5" grouping, not too shabby, with one wild shot down near the bottom.

That was the one where Skye had crossed his mind.

It was a weakness about which Bobbi had often berated him - the tendency to let his emotions disrupt his focus or get the best of his logic. It didn't happen nearly as often as she assumed, but it did happen from time to time. His failed attempt to go after Carl Creel was probably the most recent example.

And his shooting this morning.

He changed out the target for a new one and shot another grouping, deliberately clearing his mind in the process. 1.5" again this time, with no wild shots. That was better.

He finished his target practice, put everything away, and wandered down the hall toward the gym, allowing himself momentarily to get caught up in his thoughts.

Judging by Skye's interaction with Coulson the other day, he was pretty sure word had reached her - probably through Agent May - that he'd requested to be responsible for her safety. He figured the cat was pretty well out of the bag, then, as far as how he was feeling. And she hadn't distanced herself - she still had chosen to spend time with him, opened up to him, stood close to him. Clung to him when he embraced her. All the lights seemed green, until a moment arose where they might act on it. Then, every time, she panicked and fled, emotionally if not physically.

Hunter could understand it. He didn't like it, but he could understand it. After all, he knew what she'd been through, and even if she'd worked out her grief over Ward, there was still the fear of something like that happening again. He wished he could be the person to help Skye work through that fear, but there was something that would feel awfully self-serving about that.

If she'd been clearly uninterested, maybe he could've moved on. Instead, his attachment kept growing stronger, hope sustaining it. He was going to have to be patient.

He knew he could probably speed things up, if he wanted to. After all, over his years in the field, he'd learned a number of tricks to help "encourage" women to fall for him. But Skye was too important to him, what he wanted to have with her too real, to employ those strategies on which he habitually relied when it came to marks. He didn't want to win her in spite of herself. He wanted to wait until she was ready.

She was worth waiting for.

* * * * * * *

Skye was too absorbed in what she was working on to notice Simmons coming into the room until it was too late.

"Skye," Simmons asked, a note of hesitant suspicion in her otherwise mild voice, "why are you running background checks on Lance Hunter?"

Skye wheeled around in her chair to see Simmons standing there, smiling a bit too sweetly for it to be genuine, cupping a mug of steaming hot tea between her hands.

Skye opened and shut her mouth a couple of times. Simmons waited, smiling expectantly.

Skye gave up. "I'm being a completely neurotic, paranoid psychopath," she muttered, slumping in her chair.

Simmons' brow furrowed. "I don't understand," she said apologetically. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to Skye, her eyes fixed attentively on Skye's face.

Skye sighed heavily. "I think Hunter...is interested in me. Romantically."

"Oh!" Simmons exclaimed softly, blinking in surprise and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And...do you return the sentiment?"

Skye nodded.

"Well, that's...delightfully simple, then," Simmons replied, with an obviously strained smile. Skye knew she was thinking of herself and Fitz, and how utterly un-simple everything had become for them, but she was keeping on a brave face for Skye's sake.

Skye thought it might be most sensitive to just shut up, but she really needed to talk to a friend right now, and she knew that Simmons would rather Skye share than bottle it up out of concern for her. "Except it isn't simple," she lamented. "Last time I liked a guy..." She let the sentence trail off, making eye contact with Simmons, who nodded, her face suddenly sober and her lips tight.

"That would be a difficult thing to get over," Simmons agreed softly, tapping her fingers against her mug.

"I have the worst track record with men," Skye confessed. "Everyone I've ever been serious about, I've been completely wrong about his character." She waved miserably at the stack of background checks on the table. "I don't want to make that mistake again."

Simmons spoke cautiously. "You don't think that perhaps this is a bit...excessive?" She watched Skye's reaction carefully, noting the other woman's misery. "No, no, I suppose not," she said. She sighed. "How many have you pulled so far?"

"Criminal background checks, national, international, and all fifty states; credit reports; everything I could get off of the CIA, FBI, and INTERPOL; all SHIELD records, including searching by DNA sequence -" Skye held up a few strands of short brown hair in response to Simmons' questioning eyebrow - "his RAF and SAS records. His birth certificate..."

"You haven't hacked his medical records, have you?" Simmons interjected quickly. Doctor-patient confidentiality was a point of passion for her.

Skye glared at her incredulously. " _No_ , Simmons. For heaven's sake, I have _some_ scruples." Simmons raised her eyebrows, taking in the stacks of personal information scattered all over the table, and Skye burst out laughing.

"So, what have you discovered so far?" Simmons asked, after the laughter had died down.

Skye brushed her bangs out of her eyes and grabbed a yellow memo pad off one of the stacks of paper surrounding her. "So far, not much. Born in London in March, 1982; his parents divorced when he was seven. No known criminal history on any of the searches, no aliases, nothing on INTERPOL. Five commendations for distinguished service from the British military. SHIELD has him in the system as - surprise! - a hired mercenary and now as an agent. He was working with Isabelle Hartley's team almost the whole time he was with SHIELD." She paused for a moment. She hadn't realized that Hunter's history with Izzy went back so far. No wonder her death had hit him hard.

Skye realized Simmons was looking at her curiously and went on. "He had credit issues in his twenties but seems to have cleaned it up. He co-signed on a flat in DC about six years ago with one Barbara Morse, six months after their application for a marriage license was filed. Divorce paperwork was filed just over three and a half years later." She sighed heavily.

Simmons was resting her chin on one hand, looking at Skye with eyes full of compassion. "What are you hoping to find?" she asked gently.

Skye shook her head. "I don't know," she said frankly. "Some kind of proof that he's not Hydra, or an opportunistic jerk, or otherwise completely misrepresenting himself to me."

"Can you really find that out by doing all of this?" Simmons inquired lightly.

Skye shook her head. "No. I know. All this gives me is data - it really can't show me who he is. I mean, I think I know. But I thought I knew with Miles, and I thought I knew...other times." She preferred not to mention Ward's name in Simmons' presence. She didn't like seeing the steely anger that came across her friend's face at that name. It was just one more reminder of how Ward had changed all of them irrevocably for the worse.

It didn't need to be said. Simmons understood what she meant. "So really, you're just looking for some way to check the accuracy of your impressions," she mused thoughtfully. Skye nodded. That was it exactly. "It is hard to trust people, isn't it?" Simmons empathized. "Especially in our line of work." She got a faraway look in her eye for a moment.

"Especially when you have the track record of a hurricane," Skye mumbled.

Simmons sat up straight and briskly quaffed the last of her tea. "Well, I have an idea," she said, carefully but cheerily. "We happen to have someone in the base who knows Agent Hunter rather better than any of us. Perhaps she might be a good person with whom to check your impressions?"

Skye started. "Bobbi?" she asked skeptically. "I think it would be incredibly awkward to go ask her questions like these."

"For you, probably," Simmons said with a small grin. "But not for me. Bobbi and I are friends, and were I to ask her about her past relationships, I don't think she'd hesitate to share." She raised her eyebrows, wondering what Skye thought.

Skye blinked uneasily. "Okay," she said slowly. "You're there on your own, you're not asking on my behalf, right?"

"Oh, no!" Simmons replied indignantly. "No, I'll be very covert. I'll start by small-talking, and then I'll gradually bring it up. You can be conveniently hovering nearby if you'd like." She looked rather pleased with herself for having come up with the plan.

Skye was impressed. "Those months of undercover really changed you, didn't they?"

Simmons' lips tightened, and she smiled that strained smile again. "They really did," she confirmed. "In some good ways, and in ways I wish they hadn't."

Skye nodded. She could relate to that. "Thanks for helping me, Jem."

Simmons smiled, more genuinely this time. "What else are friends for?"


	17. Chapter 17

Jemma Simmons and Bobbi had had a standing date for afternoon tea, whenever they were both available, ever since returning to the Playground. It was nice, Simmons reflected, to have someone to carry on an afternoon tea tradition with, now that Fitz was...so distant. As a result, she and Bobbi were becoming quite good friends, actually. 

Simmons heated the water and set out two mugs and several varieties of tea on the counter. She took a deep breath. "Behave naturally," she reminded herself.

"Hi Simmons!" Bobbi greeted her cheerfully, her blonde waves swaying as she walked in.

"Hello!" Simmons replied with a bright smile. 

They prepared their tea and sat down, chatting about the weather, Simmons' latest project in the lab, their favorite Star Wars movie. Bobbi inquired how things with Fitz were going, and Simmons shook her head, tight-lipped. Bobbi understood and frowned. 

Smoothly, Simmons steered the conversation onto important people and past relationships. "You know," she said with a conspiratorial smile, "I don't think I've ever heard how you and Hunter met."

Bobbi laughed. "You really want to hear the story?"

"I do!" Simmons enthused, just as her phone buzzed. "Excuse me," she said apologetically, glancing down at the phone before explaining, "Someone just has a question down in the lab." 

It was true. Skye was waiting in the lab. 

_Are you ready for me?_

Simmons tapped out a quick response - _Yes_ \- and sent it, then smiled at Bobbi pleasantly. "Where were we?"

Bobbi returned the smile, took a sip of her tea, and began. "Well, we first met in North Carolina. I was there on an op, and he was stationed at Fort Bragg for some kind of cross-training with US Special Forces. He came up and started hitting on me on the pier one night while I was trying to tail someone. I had to brush him off, but he was cute, so I gave him my number. We went out for drinks a couple of times. I had to leave after a week. I never thought I'd see him again."

Bobbi glanced up and stopped talking as Skye came in and grabbed a Coke out of the fridge. Noticing Bobbi's silence, Skye glanced at them curiously. "Am I interrupting a private conversation?"

Bobbi shook her head. "Nope," she said briskly, with a smile. "You can stay, if you want to. We were just talking about how Hunter and I met."

Skye raised her eyebrows in feigned surprise and pulled up a chair. "Sure," she said casually. 

Bobbi turned to Simmons. "So, a few months after North Carolina, I was on an investigation in Bermuda, and he showed up with the SAS, looking into the same phenomenon we were. We had to warn them off. But he still had my number and kept calling. Wouldn't take no for an answer. We met up a few times, and he told me he wanted to get out of the military and start working freelance. 

"Isabelle Hartley and I were working together on a lot of missions back then, so I got Hunter onto her team. We started seeing each other more often, worked on missions together. Fell in love. The rest was history."

Simmons smiled. "What drew you to him?" 

"He was cute. Charming. And persistent. He could be really thoughtful sometimes, and we made each other laugh." She paused, thinking. "We had great chemistry in the field, almost like we could read each other's minds. Unfortunately, it didn't extend into everyday life." She took a long sip of tea.

Simmons nodded sympathetically. "What happened?"

Bobbi let out a short laugh. "We were a disaster from the beginning. Our marriage started out as an adrenaline rush, pretty impulsive. We really didn't know each other very well, and we had _very_ different expectations." She rolled her eyes. "Plus, Fury was always sending me undercover. It's hard to have a marriage when you have to disappear for months at a time and can't say anything about where you've been." She shrugged. "Hunter always wanted more than what I could give - honesty, time, attention." 

Bobbi caught Simmons' bemused look. "Don't let him fool you," she went on. "He's a teddy bear under all that swagger. He wanted our relationship to be my first priority, and it just wasn't. It couldn't be. It didn't work for the lifestyle we led, the work we were doing. So we fought. _Often._ It didn't help that he can really be an arrogant jerk sometimes." Bobbi grimaced expressively. 

"Eventually, I just couldn't take it any more. He wasn't going to change. I wasn't. That was it." She sighed. "He didn't want to give up. But it was pointless to keep beating our heads against the wall. So I left. He had kind of a hard time with it." Bobbi frowned. That part had been painful for both of them. 

Silence settled over their little table, Skye and Simmons exchanging glances. Then Bobbi laughed, a flash of amusement crossing her face as she remembered something. 

"What?" Skye asked curiously. 

Bobbi smirked. "Hunter would also get ridiculously jealous when Fury would send me in to seduce some mark. Not that he didn't have to do his fair share of that at times, too."

Skye was absorbed with her thoughts for a moment, feeling relieved. Nothing Bobbi had said really surprised her; it all fit in with the appraisal of Hunter she'd been putting together over the last few weeks. Legitimately cocky, sometimes overconfident. Sensitive under his flippant, unassailable facade. Thoughtful. Attached deeply when he allowed himself to care at all. Loyal to a fault. From what Bobbi said, it sounded like maybe Hunter had never allowed himself to become as vulnerable with her as he seemed to be with Skye. The thought sent little chills up Skye's spine and down through her fingers. God, she loved that man. 

She really did. 

"So." Bobbi's voice interrupted Skye's thoughts. "Think you can handle a guy like that?"

Skye's cheeks blazed, and Simmons choked on her tea. "What?"

Bobbi gave Skye a knowing look. "I can read people pretty well, you know. Points for subtlety, though," she added, glancing approvingly at Simmons. 

Skye blinked, speechless. Of course she should've known Bobbi would see right through their scheme. 

"It's okay," Bobbi stressed, making eye contact with Skye to emphasize her point. "I wouldn't have left if I still thought we could make things work. I don't mind if he finds someone else."

"Even if we're all on the same team?" Skye asked uncertainly. 

Bobbi shrugged. "I have thick skin," she said lightly. "If it bugs me - which it shouldn't - I'll go take it out on the punching bag." She smiled at Skye, her eyes serious. "Just...take care of him, all right?"

"I'll try," Skye said quietly, fiddling with her Coke bottle. She blinked and corrected herself. "I'm not even entirely sure it's mutual."

Bobbi smiled. "I wouldn't worry about that, if I were you." She took a sip of her cooling tea. "Anything else you want to ask while we're all here?"

"Any chance he's secretly a Hydra double agent?" Skye asked, only half ironically. 

Bobbi raised her eyebrows, amused. "What do you think?" 

"I don't exactly have a good track record on that question," Skye replied bitterly. 

Bobbi winced, then looked at Skye apologetically. She had almost forgotten about that. "I vouched for him to Coulson," she reminded Skye emphatically. "I would never have done that if I thought there was a shadow of a chance he'd be with Hydra." She tilted her head to one side, searching Skye's eyes. "Hunter is a good man, Skye. He's not exactly Prince Charming" - she rolled her eyes - "but he has scruples. He became a mercenary for the money, not because he didn't care who he worked for. He would never partner with an organization like Hydra." Skye nodded, her anxiety easing considerably with Bobbi's emphatic assurances. 

"What are his most _maddening_ qualities?" Simmons broke in eagerly. Skye shot her an incredulous look. "What?" Simmons asked her. "It's wise to know what you're getting into," she added with a shrug. 

Bobbi was laughing. "You really want to know?"

Skye rolled her eyes. "Sure, go ahead."

Bobbi grinned. "He always thinks he's right. He'll always want to be the center of your attention. You may have to restrain him from punching any man who flirts with you in his presence. He has no idea where the clothes hamper is, and his feet smell terrible after he works out." Bobbi's eyes were twinkling. "He's not a bad cook, when he's motivated to do it, which isn't often."

Skye felt almost ashamed, at this point, about the quantity of personal information she was accumulating about Hunter without his knowledge. Okay. It was time to get off the neurotic, paranoid psychopath train. 

"Thank you," she said to Bobbi. 

Bobbi grinned, a mischievous spark in her eye. "You're welcome," she answered. "Good luck." She picked up her mug, rinsed it out and put it in the dishwasher, then headed toward the door. She stuck her head back in for a moment to ask, "Tea tomorrow, Simmons?"

Simmons nodded. 

"Next time you have a question, just ask," Bobbi said with a smile, then disappeared down the hall. 

Simmons turned to Skye. "Do you feel better?" she asked gently. 

Skye exhaled slowly, thinking. "Yeah," she said, her eyes meeting Simmons'. "Yeah, I do."

* * * * *

Skye didn't go out to the lounge that night, to see if Hunter was waiting there for their customary evening chat. She made the excuse to herself that she was too busy with this new research project for Coulson, that it was too pressing and too urgent to get it figured out. 

The truth was, she needed some time to _think_ \- and Lance Hunter had the disconcerting tendency to make her stop doing exactly that.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Here be spoilers for 2.08, "The Things We Bury." We are staying canon compliant. T rating will be maintained. :)

The SUV door slammed shut. Inside, all was a mad scramble of lips and skin and adrenaline.

Hunter plunged headlong into it, into the passion, desperately silencing his misgivings. He wanted to trust her. This was what he'd missed. This was the Bobbi he needed, the way he wished things always could have been.

Suddenly, his thoughts were speaking with Skye's voice: _You miss how you wish things could have been_.

Skye.

Hunter froze. Bobbi, fumbling with his belt buckle, stopped. "What?"

He pushed back, sitting up. "Damn it." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Bobbi, I can't do this."

"What?" Bobbi said sharply, confused. "Hunter, we were married. It's not like we haven't done this before."

"I know," he said, closing his eyes, his face contorting painfully. "...But it's different now."

Realization dawned in her features. "Skye?" she said quietly.

He nodded without a word.

Bobbi's eyes widened. "Wow."

They looked at each other for a long moment, Hunter trying to shake off the insane attraction he still felt for her. But Skye had been right, weeks ago: it was the fantasy of Bobbi he missed, not the reality of her. No matter how much it seemed like the fantasy in this moment, it wasn't. He still couldn't trust a word that came out of this woman's mouth.

"She must really mean something to you," Bobbi observed evenly. Disappointment flickered across her face.

Hunter winced, bringing his fingers to his temples as a headache suddenly set in. His mind was spinning far too violently for him to keep up. He had to get out of there.

Unceremoniously, he flung open the vehicle door and hauled himself out. He picked up his shirt and strode back toward the main part of the base, barely remembering to pull it back on before he ran into anyone.

* * * * * * *

Hunter staggered into his quarters and locked the door before dropping heavily onto the bed, burying his face in his hands. He was out of breath, his head and heart both racing, and it wasn't from the walk to his room from the garage.

What the _hell_ had just happened?

He focused on calming his breathing, feeling the adrenaline level in his blood begin to subside. His thoughts cleared as his heart rate slowed to match his respirations.

Bloody hell.

What had he been about to do?

He'd been about to fall hook, line, and sinker for Bobbi's words again, that's what. God - he'd thought he had broken free from her, yet here he was, still so easy to win over, so easy for her to play, so stupidly willing to trust her even in the face of certain knowledge to the contrary. He didn't understand why he'd been so quick to give in, so ready to profess his eternal desire to believe a woman he'd never known to be honest with him in her entire life.

He took a few deep breaths in and out, giving his thoughts time to clear a bit more.

He supposed he wasn't exactly in the strongest place. Over the last few days, his heart had been rubbed raw by Skye's avoidance; he could tell she hadn't allowed herself to be alone with him since the evening he embraced her after Ward's call. Hunter had the sinking, desperate sense that he'd overplayed his hand, frightened her off, missed his chance. Now that he'd opened his heart to her, reawakening his longing for honest emotional connection with another human being, it nearly destroyed him to think he'd lost it. At least with Bobbi, he could pretend that it was there.

All that, combined with the stress of Bakshi's suicide attempt and a libido that, granted, hadn't been gratified in an agonizingly long time, had left him particularly susceptible to embracing a fantasy.

Hunter groaned. He couldn't blame Bobbi for what had happened. He was pretty sure he had been the one who kissed her first. But she hadn't fought it. Whether she still had feelings for him, or just saw it as a convenient way to secure his loyalty for whatever plans she had in motion, he didn't know. Her look of disappointment had seemed genuine enough, but he had learned long ago that Bobbi Morse was a master at showing on her face exactly what she wanted to at any given moment.

This was the part of their dysfunctional marriage he hadn't wanted to tell Skye about - the mistrust, the angles, the utter confusion of never being able to put confidence in anything his elite spy ex-wife said. The frustration of having his every word turned back on him and twisted in an argument until he couldn't remember what was true and what wasn't. It was a wonderful skill set for interrogation. It was terrible for intimate relationships.

He'd been about to fall right back into it. Thank God Skye's words had come back to him at just the right moment, reminding him both of the truth about his relationship with Bobbi and the promise of something more real. Maybe he had missed his chance with Skye. But he couldn't give up on it yet.

Against the confused backdrop of thoughts still swirling in his mind, that much, at least, was clear.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as I don't hate Ward, I don't hate Bobbi. But just as the team has issues with Ward, Hunter definitely has some issues with Bobbi, and I think, strengthened by Skye, he'd be more willing to admit it. I'm fascinated that the show seems to be setting Bobbi up as an ambiguous character, and I'm hoping she doesn't hurt Hunter. But...this is a Skye/Hunter story, so I have to spin canon to fit the story I'm telling here. Huntingbird shippers, don't hate me. And enjoy your moment while it lasts. ;)

Coulson, Skye, Fitz, and Trip got back to the Playground at around 2am local time. They wheeled Trip in on a gurney, startling Simmons, who'd fallen asleep in a chair waiting for them. Groggy though she was upon waking, Simmons insisted on doing a full evaluation of Triplett and making doubly sure he was stabilized and comfortable before she would allow Skye to walk her to her room.

Skye found a note stuffed into her own door: _Good work today. Take the morning off. May_

Phew. With the promise of sleeping in, Skye was going to grab something to eat. She hadn't had anything since that afternoon, and she was starving.

She didn't expect to find anyone awake at this hour. But when she came close to the lounge door she saw Hunter inside, slumped back on the couch, one hand covering his eyes and massaging his temples. Clearly, he was upset.

Skye hesitated, torn. She hadn't been _avoiding_ him - not exactly. But they hadn't spoken privately since that day when he'd flung his arms around her after the call from Ward. Mostly because Skye didn't trust herself not to fall right into his arms again the second they were alone, and she wanted to make sure she'd had plenty of time for a rational, measured, SHIELD-agent-worthy decision-making process before she allowed that to happen.

But his evident distress was tearing her heart up. She couldn't leave him alone like that.

"You look terrible," she quipped, walking in.

"Hell of a day," he murmured, hauling himself into an upright position and greeting her with a forced smile. His smile fell almost immediately, as if the energy required to maintain it was more than he had left. "I didn't think you were coming."

"You waited up for me?" Skye asked, surprised. It was nearly 3am.

He nodded, his eyes drifting down to the floor and back up, as if this were hard to get out. "I really need to talk." He sounded almost apologetic.

"Of course," Skye replied compassionately, sinking into a chair across from him. "What's up?"

Hunter felt a surge of relief that she was staying. The incident with Bobbi had kicked up a sandstorm of tortured thoughts and emotions that hadn't permitted him any sleep, and the only hope he could see for sorting them out was talking with Skye. Given her recent distance, he hadn't been sure whether she'd be willing. Now, if he could just get his brain to cooperate. "That's the problem," he explained. "I honestly don't know where to start." He drew a deep, shaky breath.

Skye had never seen him like this. Concern moved her to come sit beside him, and now it was her turn to begin gently rubbing his back in comfort, her eyes closing momentarily at the heady sensation of being so close to him for the first time in days. Her body's reaction confirmed for her that she had been wise to keep her distance for a while. Proximity to Lance Hunter was something she couldn't trust herself with right now.

Hunter, meanwhile, was soaking up her closeness. Skye's touch was soothing, like ice to sore muscles or a warm blanket on a chilly night. It seemed to reach all the way to his soul, and he felt the tangled-up knots of confusion and grief and guilt inside begin to loosen.

A coherent thought found its way to his lips. "I don't know if I can keep doing this."

For a moment, Skye thought "this" meant _them_ \- this strange, unarticulated connection they shared. Her heart thudded, and she fought down a sudden wave of nausea. "What do you mean?" she asked bravely.

"This," he clarified, waving at the room around them. "Espionage. Counterterrorism. SHIELD." He stared at his hands, his brow furrowing. Skye took a deep breath. "I hate it, you know."

She didn't know. "Why do you do it, then?" she asked, confused.

He grimaced resignedly. "It's my only skill set. And I do it well. But I don't have many other options."

"'No technical skills whatsoever,' huh?" she quoted sympathetically.

He nodded and looked up at her, smiling ruefully at the reference. He sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. "I got into private contracting for the money," he said, his voice muffled by his hands. "It was supposed to be my exit strategy, so I could get out once and for all." He raised his head, looking around. "That backfired."

Skye had been trying not to think about Agent May's warning that Hunter might not be committed to SHIELD, but the persistent thought kept coming back. "Why do you hate it?" she asked carefully, trying to keep her voice steady.

Hunter's tired voice had an edge of frustration. "For most of my adult life, I've been at the mercy of people working angles. Always half in the dark, doing the wrong thing for the right reason, or so I hope. I hate feeling like a pawn. I hate never being able to trust anyone, and losing the people I do trust." He glanced up to meet her eyes, and she saw the deep well of bitterness and pain in his. He continued, looking back down at his hands. "I hate always seeing the worst in people all the time."

Skye nodded. She hadn't known that he felt that way, but she could understand it. This was definitely not an easy life to live. And he'd been living it much longer than she had.

Hunter tried to make sense of his angry, conflicted thoughts. For a little while, he had allowed himself to buy into the alluring impression that maybe this time, with this team, things were going to be straightforward, that he could learn to trust them as he had Izzy and Idaho, find a home here. Then Bobbi had come onto the scene, and he knew things would be more complicated. Today, after watching Bobbi masterfully twist the truth and hearing Bakshi allude to her dirty laundry, he saw it was all just more of the same. He ought to've known better than to expect anything different. He was disgusted with Bobbi, with SHIELD, with himself.

He had more than half a mind to pack his things and slip out the back door.

They sat in silence for few minutes before Skye spoke quietly. "Do you trust me?" she asked.

Hunter's eyes snapped up to meet hers. He thought back to their nights talking in the lounge: Skye's brokenness, her transparency, her idealism, her newness to this whole world and how still untarnished she was by it. "I do," he replied honestly, savoring the admission.

"Well, I trust Coulson," Skye said firmly, her dark brown eyes fixed intently on his. "He might not always tell you all the secrets, but he has a good reason for keeping them. And I've never known him to be anything but a good man. If he's ever played an angle, it's been for the benefit of the team and of those we're trying to protect." She took a deep breath, keeping her eyes on his to emphasize her words. "If you have to use your skills somewhere, there's no one I'd rather work for than him."

Hunter studied Skye gratefully, drinking in the honesty and earnestness in her face, her complete lack of artifice. God, it was a balm to his wounded soul tonight. He needed someone like her to offset all the cynicism, all the confusion. If possible, he loved her more at that moment than he ever had before. He wasn't sure whether that made things better or worse.

He dropped his head into his hands, trying to sort out his thoughts, and Skye began again to rub his back with slow, reassuring strokes. His body relaxed in response.

He didn't know what he would do without her here right now.

"What happened to bring all this up?" Skye asked quietly.

Suddenly, Hunter's muscle tension returned with full force.

Skye felt him stiffen under her hand and frowned. "What is it?" she asked in concern.

Hunter was quiet. Even though he and Skye weren't technically together, what had happened with Bobbi had felt like cheating. He didn't know how to tell Skye about it. He didn't want to hide it from her - whatever her feelings were, she deserved to know. But he didn't know whether it would hurt her. And he hated the thought of hurting her.

_You ought to've thought of that before, mate,_ he chided himself.

The only option was to tell her as gently as possible.

He took a deep breath. "I did something earlier this evening that I'm not proud of," he began, watching Skye's reaction. She nodded cautiously, her expression still reassuring.

He exhaled slowly and continued. "Well, there's...a bit of history here," he explained. "Bobbi and I, when we were married, trust was a major problem in our relationship. I didn't want to burden you with all the gory details when we talked before. But suffice it to say, Bobbi's a spy. She plays with truth like children play with clay. She's a master at twisting it to suit whatever end she's pursuing. And I never felt I could trust her."

_Pieces to the puzzle_ , Skye thought. She nodded at him to continue.

"She blew the interrogation with Bakshi tonight, we almost lost him, and it seemed suspicious. I accused her of ulterior motives, and she threw it back at me, saying I was the one being ridiculous, that she'd always been honest with me." He dared a sidelong glance at Skye. She was listening carefully, brow slightly creased in sympathy, confusion clouding her chocolate eyes. She didn't know where he was going with this. He sighed.

"I had a feeling she was playing me, but suddenly I wanted to believe it. And one thing led to another, and then we were snogging and well on our way to more. But I stopped it."

"I'm sorry - you were what?" Skye replied in confusion.

"Snogging. Damn it." Hunter searched his memory banks for the American English equivalent and came up with the generic term. "Kissing."

Skye suddenly remembered what it had felt like to be shot in the gut.

She quickly called to mind every ounce of her field agent training to steady her pulse and her voice. "But you...stopped it?"

Hunter nodded miserably. Skye had her impassive agent face on, but he had briefly seen her flash of shock at his disclosure. He wanted to comfort her, but how could he comfort her for harm he himself had caused? He could profess his undying love for her, but he wasn't sure whether that would do more harm than good.

"I thought you two were done?" she asked casually. Too casually, he knew.

"We are," he replied emphatically. "I just...had a weak moment."

Skye nodded, processing. "You were the one who initiated it?"

He nodded again, more miserable still. "Not my best moment."

She said nothing for a little while. Just as Hunter was beginning to wonder whether she expected him to say something else, she spoke quietly: "Why did you stop things before they could go further?"

"I remembered what you said," he answered in a low voice. "That it wasn't the reality of Bobbi I missed, only the fantasy. Your words snapped me out of fooling myself." He frowned. "I'm ashamed I let it get that far before I remembered them."

Skye swallowed hard. "And...Bobbi's ability to manipulate the truth - that was what brought to a head all the things you hate about working for SHIELD?"

"Yeah," Hunter said softly. He watched Skye helplessly. He could tell his confession had hurt her, but he didn't know what to do or say to make it better. He had the feeling he'd mucked everything up badly this time.

Meanwhile, Skye was reeling. Had she completely misjudged Hunter's feelings for her? It certainly seemed that way. And it seemed clear that his only thought when it came to SHIELD was how soon he could get out.

"Makes sense," she choked out, desperately trying to maintain her appearance of composure, but realizing that she was rapidly beginning to lose it.

"Well, Coulson is a good man," she repeated almost automatically. "He's someone worth trusting." She dropped her hand from where it had been resting on Hunter's back, feeling a visceral sense of loss at the cessation of physical contact between them. "I... I have to be up early," she lied, standing, suddenly desperate to get away. "I should go to bed."

Hunter looked up at her, his eyes a mingle of confusion, pain, and regret. "Sleep well," he said softly, the suspicion that she wouldn't giving rise to a hollow ache within his chest.

Skye forced a smile and stumbled down the hallway to her room. Once inside, she kicked off her shoes, stripped off unnecessary layers, and curled up around her pillow, using it to muffle her sobs until sleep quieted them.


	20. Chapter 20

Skye did indeed sleep fitfully that night. She found herself lying on her back, fully awake, a couple of hours later, afraid to go back to sleep for fear of dreams of Trip bleeding out from a severed brachial artery and Hunter making out with blonde Amazons while Ward and her murderous father leered at her from behind trees and buildings, always finding her no matter how she tried to escape. 

Skye switched the light on, pulled on a pair of fuzzy socks (it was amazing how much more you appreciated little luxuries after becoming part of an impoverished, underground spy organization), and shuffled down the hall, heading vaguely in the direction of Coulson's office. Maybe she just wanted to reassure herself that he really had stopped his nighttime carving - that something, at least, was going right. 

She avoided the gym area, because she knew Melinda May would be in there doing tai chi. And even if Skye was awake, she wasn't sure she was up for joining her. 

She found Coulson, surprisingly, at his desk, eyes bleary as he pored over satellite photos of old San Juan. 

"So that's where we're going?" Skye asked quietly. 

Coulson looked up, just now noticing her lurking in the doorway. " _We_ are," he corrected her matter-of-factly. " _You_ aren't going anywhere near it."

Skye blew her bangs up out of her eyes and dropped into a chair. "I guess I kind of figured." 

Coulson set the photos aside, eyeing her thoughtfully. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked. Skye shook her head. His face twisted in sympathy. "You're getting pretty good at sneaking around, you know. Must be all that tai chi with Agent May. I didn't even hear you come in." He smiled. 

Skye half-returned the smile in spite of herself. Coulson had a way of making things feel normal, even when they were about to go investigate a possibly alien city somehow embedded in Puerto Rico and her life was falling apart around her. 

She avoided her thoughts by changing the subject. "I notice you're not sleeping, either," she remarked. 

Coulson shook his head sheepishly. "I couldn't turn my brain off. I know I'll need some sleep before we leave, but I've kind of gotten used to being nocturnal. I figured I should use my best thinking time to work on our plans." He tapped the photos on the desk before him. Then, eyeing her piercingly, he noted, "You, on the other hand, don't have any good excuse to be up yet."

Skye shrugged. "Nightmares," she said lightly, hoping he would drop it. 

He didn't. "Anything you want to talk about?" he asked gently. 

Skye couldn't remember the last time Coulson had had time just to talk. She reasoned that either he was experiencing a sudden surge of paternal instinct, or she was doing a miserable job hiding how messed up she felt. 

Skye heaved a sigh. "Honestly," she confessed, finding a little comfort in Coulson's sympathetic gaze, "I'm really beating myself up right now. I did something...kind of stupid, and made my life more complicated than it needed to be, and now I'm paying the price." She left it at that, and Coulson didn't press her - though she wondered, from the understanding in his eyes, whether he already had a good sense of exactly what she was talking about. 

"Life is too short," he said quietly, "to spend it blaming people - including yourself - for mistakes. We're complicated people sometimes, and we don't always do the things we want to do. But being able to accept the imperfections, and move on - that will save you a lot of extra, unnecessary heartache." He sighed, his eyes becoming unfocused as he grimaced regretfully. "Life has enough necessary heartache as it is."

Skye watched as Coulson relived what must have been some of his necessary heartache, almost feeling as if she were intruding. She sometimes forgot just how much this man had been through, how much more than her he'd seen and suffered - and he'd still come through it a good man. There honestly wasn't anyone she'd rather take orders from. Or, in this case, advice. Even though it wasn't easy advice...she would try. 

"You should get some sleep, sir," she said gently, not wanting to break him too sharply out of his thoughts. 

"You're right," he replied wryly, turning back to her. "When my head space goes from productive to maudlin, it's definitely time for some rest." He smiled tightly, but with gentleness. "You should go get some more sleep, too."

Skye nodded. She would try. 

* * * * *

A few hours later, Hunter awoke from his own troubling dreams. He was staggering down the hallway in search of coffee when Agent May beckoned him into a side room, where she was seated watching a computer screen. 

"I was going over security camera footage from last night," she said mildly, waving him around to her side of the table. "Mind telling me what this is?"

_Oh, no._

Hunter turned to the screen and saw himself and Bobbi, stumbling down the hallway toward the garage, exchanging frantic kisses. 

They must have forgotten about that camera. 

Agent May had one eyebrow raised, awaiting his response. 

"That," Hunter said frankly, avoiding her acidic gaze, "was a huge mistake."

Agent May's face was hard, her eyes coolly threatening. "You need to tell Skye about this," she said levelly, "or I will."

Hunter blinked at her, taken aback, then exhaled gustily. "I already did."

A slight flicker of surprise and - could that have been approval? - moved across May's face. 

"I told her last night," Hunter elaborated tentatively. "It...came up."

May pressed her lips together, studying him appraisingly. "So, are you and Skye...?"

He shook his head. 

May's eyebrow quirked upward again. "Why not?"

Hunter shifted his weight, crossing his arms across his chest. "It seemed like the wrong time to confess my undying affection, after admitting I'd just nearly slept with my ex-wife," he replied sarcastically. "And," he added more seriously, "I didn't know whether it would be a welcome confession."

May's face softened slightly. She'd caught the "nearly" in that first sentence. And the wording he'd chosen to describe his feelings for Skye, which, though ironic, definitely indicated something deeper than mere physical attraction. 

"Are you serious about her?" she asked evenly. Her voice was mild, but her eyes still had that threatening edge. 

Hunter nodded helplessly, hoping his answer wouldn't earn him another bullet to the vest at May's next opportunity. 

"Good," she replied firmly. "You need to tell her. After hearing about this -" she pointed to the screen, where she had the offending footage playing on loop - "she needs to know how you feel."

Hunter nodded again, torn between cowed silence and a surprised appreciation of May's depth of concern for Skye. Underneath all her frigid exterior, he mused, there seemed to be a surprisingly strong maternal impulse toward her trainee. 

Hunter swallowed an irreverent comment about Skye's intimidating parental figures. "I'll talk to her," he agreed instead, beginning to inch toward the door. 

"Good. And Hunter?" May added, smiling without warmth. "If you ever hurt Skye again, I will personally break every bone in your body."

Hunter swallowed hard and - forget inching - darted out the door. Seriously, that woman was terrifying. 

* * * * *

A little while later in the gym, Skye was wrapping her hands for a workout with the punching bag.

When she'd woken up after a couple more fitful hours of sleep, her body aching and head stuffy from sobbing in the wee hours, Skye realized bitterly that she'd somehow managed to accomplish the very thing she'd been trying so hard to avoid - destroying a really valuable friendship and working relationship with awkward and painful romantic overtones. Despite her best attempt to make a measured, strategic decision, her heart had run ahead and made the decision for her. 

She was crazy about Lance Hunter. He was clearly ambivalent toward her, at best, and still so hung up on his fellow agent ex-wife that he had nearly slept with her, despite his own better judgment. 

Forget trying to avoid weirdness and schism on the team - Skye was swimming in it. Coulson had told her, in not so many words, to forgive herself. But it wasn't going to be easy to do. She desperately needed to work out some aggression. And this was as good a way as any to do it. 

She laid into the punching bag: _Punch. Punch. Jab. Cross._ She tried to dull the pain by imagining Hunter's face on the bag, but found that that only made it worse. She still cared about him too much to want to hurt him. She switched Hunter's face out for Bobbi's. That seemed easier.

Until suddenly, a few minutes later, _there_ was Bobbi, standing in the doorway, arms folded, watching Skye with a mixture of remorse and sympathy. 

Skye stiffened, flubbing her next punch, and bit back a yelp at the angry twinge in her wrist. She took a step back, shaking out her hand. 

"Is that bag Hunter or me?" Bobbi asked with a wry twist of her lips, a regretful shadow darkening her blue eyes. Skye shot her a cold look, but Bobbi could see devastation hiding under the show of strength. 

Bobbi took a few cautious steps closer. "I knew Hunter would tell you," she said sympathetically. "He can never keep a secret from someone he cares about."

Skye let out a short, scornful laugh and began sparring with the bag again. 

_Punch. Punch. Jab. Cross._

"Skye, I'm really sorry," Bobbi went on, taking a few more steps toward her. "I didn't know if maybe things had fallen apart between you two. But what happened should never have happened." Bobbi paused, and out of the corner of her eye, Skye saw her frown apologetically. "I didn't realize how much you meant to each other."

Skye scoffed. "Clearly, I must mean a lot to him, if he's practically sleeping with you."

Bobbi looked at her curiously. "You're the reason he stopped things, you know."

Skye rolled her eyes. _Punch. Punch. Jab._ "Something I _said_ weeks ago. That's why he stopped it."

"No," Bobbi disagreed firmly, shaking her head. "He did it because of you. He really cares about you."

Skye stopped mid-jab and whirled to face Bobbi, her cheeks flushed with anger. "If that's the case, then why didn't he tell me?"

Bobbi shrugged. "Hunter may be smooth sometimes, but he doesn't always know the right thing to say. Particularly when he knows he's done something stupid." They faced off, Skye's expression defiant, Bobbi's softening. "He could've taken the easy way out, you know. He didn't have to stop what was happening. Especially since he doesn't know how you feel. And he didn't have to tell you. But he did."

Skye glared. Bobbi had a point. But she didn't care. She turned back to the punching bag, hating the tears that were brimming in her eyes.

Bobbi placed a hand on the punching bag to stop its movement, pulling Skye's attention back to her. 

"We'll all be leaving before long for the next op," Bobbi reminded Skye, letting her hand drop. She looked at the younger woman seriously. "You should talk to Hunter before then."

Dismissively, Skye turned back to the bag. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Even crazy deceptive spies can do the right thing sometimes," Bobbi answered quietly, with irony. "I want to see Hunter happy. And we all need our team to be able to function, which it can't if you're both mooning around."

Bobbi watched Skye wordlessly assault the bag for a few minutes more before turning to leave. 

Skye kept at her workout until she was sure Bobbi wouldn't return; then she stopped, leaning into the bag as a single gasping sob escaped her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing a tear to trail down her cheek. 

She wanted to believe it. She really, really wanted to believe that she was the reason Hunter had pulled himself away from Bobbi, that somehow she meant more to him than the blonde goddess did, that the things she'd felt and the connection she and Hunter had shared were more than one-sided. But she was almost afraid to give it any more hope. Hope was becoming a commodity too precious to waste. 

She unwrapped her hands and set the gym back in order before grabbing a set of clean clothes from her room. 

Bobbi was really a very lovely person, Skye grudgingly admitted to herself on her way to the shower. Either that, or she was just very, very good at making allies.

* * * * * * *

Skye sought refuge on the Bus after her shower, trying to do whatever she could to keep her mind occupied and avoid running into Lance Hunter. She fired up the command center and began checking old Rising Tide channels for chatter about SHIELD or Hydra. 

Waiting for orders had never been so excruciating. She desperately needed something to do. 

Twenty minutes in or so, Skye felt the faint shiver of someone climbing the spiral stair from the cargo deck. She looked up quickly, fingers reaching for the ICER she now always kept on her. Through the broken glass of the command center walls, she saw Hunter coming down the hall.

He stopped when he saw her, the uneasy look in his eye quickly replaced with a firm but gentle determination. 

"Mind if I join you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch for the next update Friday or Saturday evening, USA time.


	21. Chapter 21

Skye didn't answer right away.

Hunter looked at her, her dark hair falling in waves around her shoulders, crimson lips pressed together, her chocolate brown eyes wary, still puffy from what must've been last night's tears.

She was beautiful. And, quite definitely, hurting. Agent May had been right. Skye needed to know the truth. Hopefully she'd let him tell it.

Hunter fished something out of his jacket pocket and held it up - a Hershey's Special Dark bar. "Price of admission?" he queried with a forced grin.

Skye smiled, just faintly, in spite of herself. "For chocolate, you can stay," she said lightly, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. Hunter dared prolonged eye contact, and Skye felt her insides get all melty as she lost herself for a moment in his warm brown eyes.

She really wanted to be able to be angry with him, to be cold, to be distant. But she wasn't any of that. The truth was...she wanted him there. Even though the dull ache in her chest was because of him, it felt better with him nearby.

Hunter came closer, handing over the chocolate bar, and took off his jacket, tossing it through the broken window onto a chair in the lounge before leaning on his elbows on the table next to her. He was wearing that chambray T-shirt she loved, though she doubted he knew it was her favorite. Their arms were only a few inches apart, and Skye felt the heat radiating off him as the hairs on her arm began to stand on end. She closed her eyes briefly, pulling herself together.

"Do you have a stash of these?" she asked, indicating the candy.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows mysteriously. Skye's answering smile eased the constriction in his heart, and he grinned in return.

She sobered after a moment. "How did you know I was in here?"

"Simmons said she saw you walking this way," he answered. "I figured that wherever you were hiding, there had to be an Internet connection." He stole an affectionate glance at her, but Skye, looking up at the screen, didn't see.

She was quiet, thinking. So, he knew she'd been hiding from him.

"What are you working on?" he asked. "Nothing classified I'm intruding on, I hope."

Skye shook her head. "Just scanning for any chatter about SHIELD or Hydra on Rising Tide channels."

He watched her work for a few minutes. She was a bloody genius, this woman, he concluded, in addition to everything else. There was so much more to her than met the eye.

He glanced up at her and found her looking back, just for a second, before she flicked her gaze up to the screen. The wary look was back in her eyes, and it was killing him. It seemed a travesty for someone as warm and open as Skye had been with him to suddenly have to protect herself so fiercely. And it was his fault.

Hunter was protective by nature. It felt both uncomfortable and disorienting to be the cause of harm to someone he cared about. Bobbi hadn't let him care for her in that protective way - she was too independent and too strong, too untouchable, and had chafed at it - but Skye had seemed to. And he'd squandered her trust. He found both her guardedness and his guilt intolerable. It was time to fix this.

He cleared his throat quietly. "So...." he began. "Our conversation last night really didn't go the way I wish it had."

The scrolling lines of text on the screen stopped. He looked up to see Skye motionless, trying to focus on the words but clearly having a difficult time.

"Hey," he said gently, straightening up and touching her on the shoulder. When she turned to him, he motioned to the big white couch in the lounge just outside the command center. "Can we talk?"

Skye nodded silently and followed him over, settling onto the couch a couple of feet away from him. Hunter folded his hands and took a deep breath. Now that they were here, he didn't really know where to begin.

Skye broke the silence first. "Bobbi said that you stopped things with her because of me - not just because of what I said," she clarified, "but because of me. But I don't know whether to believe that. Is that just more of her super-spy master deception, or...?" Her eyes met Hunter's, and there was something so vulnerable under her bold facade that a lump rose in his throat.

"No," he said quietly, holding her gaze. "She was right."

Skye's eyes searched his. She saw a hint of that same intense emotion that she'd seen there twice before, but she could tell he was restraining himself. The happiness and relief she ought to have felt at his words were overshadowed by hurt and confusion. "That was a crappy way to show it."

"I know," Hunter sighed, breaking eye contact. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, a frown creasing his brow. 

"What happened?" Skye asked with difficulty.

Hunter fiddled awkwardly with his fingers. He looked up at her. "It was a bad decision, made in a very emotional moment. We had just nearly lost Bakshi, we were arguing heatedly, I was thinking I'd missed my chance with you. I slipped up. Not that any of that makes it okay. But I want you to know it wasn't something I set out to do." He searched her eyes pleadingly, hoping in vain to see understanding breaking through her caution. "I'm so sorry, Skye," he said softly.

"You thought you'd missed your chance with me?" Skye asked quietly.

Hunter nodded.

"Why would you think that?"

He raised his eyebrows, his forehead crinkling in that way she adored. "You'd practically fallen off the face of the earth," he reminded her gently. "Ever since W-... ever since the phone call. I knew you were working through some things and needed time. I thought maybe I'd come on too strong, scared you off."

Skye was dumbfounded. She never considered that Lance Hunter, the very picture of cocky self-assurance, would take her distance as a rejection. But she supposed it must've looked like that.

Hunter had covered his eyes with one hand again, rubbing his temples, elbows still on his knees. She could tell that what had happened with Bobbi was bothering him deeply. She almost felt as if _she_ needed to console _him_.

Skye closed her eyes and reflected quietly. Hunter hadn't known how she felt. She'd thought it must have been obvious, but she supposed she had been sending mixed signals. Hunter had called off what was happening with Bobbi because of her, even though they weren't together, even though he didn't know whether she reciprocated. And he didn't have to tell her about it. But he had. That went a long way toward repairing her trust in him.

Coulson's words from the night before came back to her. "Life is too short to waste it blaming people - especially yourself - for mistakes," she said gently to Hunter. "We're all imperfect. We all do things we don't want to do."

Hunter looked up her, his expression grateful. "Does that mean you can forgive me?" he asked quietly.

Skye paused for a moment, thinking. "Yeah," she said slowly, finding she was able to let go of the tension she hadn't realized she'd been holding in her neck and shoulders. "It also means that you shouldn't keep beating yourself up about it," she added empathetically.

Hunter smiled, his eyes lingering on her face, taking in every detail. Skye shivered, whether from pleasure or pain she wasn't sure. She had to look away.

"I did need some time," she said quietly, changing the subject. "Time to figure out whether I was ready for anything, whether it was a good, _strategic_ decision to get involved with anyone."

Hunter nodded, deliberately schooling his features into a neutral expression. "And what did you figure out?"

Skye paused, feeling tears begin to prick in her eyes. "Are you going to leave SHIELD?" she asked cautiously. "Because of all the lies, and feeling like a pawn?"

For Hunter, realization suddenly sank in. This was the missing piece. Of course, Skye would hesitate to get involved with someone who'd be in the wind before too long. And with her commitment to SHIELD, of course she was looking for someone who would share it. His thoughts buzzed. He had no love lost for SHIELD. But Skye's commitment to Coulson intrigued him, made him want to understand better what could spark such devotion. And her faith in the new SHIELD made him more willing to give it a second look.

If Skye wanted him, he would stay just for her. But he wanted to give her the confidence of knowing it wasn't only for her. 

"Well, I don't know," he hedged. "Maybe SHIELD isn't so terrible." He looked squarely at Skye and spoke frankly. "Your willingness to stand up for Coulson and vouch for his character means a lot to me. It makes me want to stay and discover what's earned your trust." He paused, drawing a deep breath.

"But apart from all that," he went on, his face softening and his voice growing rough with emotion, "I think that, if you're willing, I may have an even better reason to stay." He caught her eyes with his, stepping out on the proverbial limb and allowing his feelings for her to show openly on his face, hoping it wouldn't make her run. 

Skye's breath hitched at his expression, at the intense affection in his eyes. There was no mistaking what he felt this time. "Oh yeah?" she whispered, feeling a sudden thrill of hope. She was finding it hard to draw a breath.

"Yeah," he replied softly. He quirked an eyebrow at her questioningly.

He studied her, finding no trace of the panic that had warned him off before, her guardedness fading. God, she was so beautiful - a beautiful puzzle of strength and softness, determination, brilliance, frailty, and compassion. He wanted to spend a lifetime figuring her out.

Call him a romantic. When he let himself fall, he had a tendency to think in terms of forever.

Skye seemed to be holding her breath, her eyes searching his, the air between them fairly humming. Her gaze flickered from his eyes to his lips and back.

Ever so gently, Hunter leaned in and kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch for one more update before the next episode. :)


	22. Something More Real

Hunter's kiss was slow, cautious - giving Skye plenty of opportunity to back out if she'd wanted to - but as she responded eagerly, it was as if something burst in both their hearts, weeks' worth of restrained emotions tumbling out in physical expression. Hunter wrapped an arm around Skye's waist, pulling her tightly against him as their kiss grew heated. She pressed into him, running her fingers up the back of his neck and over his short hair.

After a moment, he pulled back, resting his forehead against Skye's to look into her eyes. "This is okay?" he confirmed, his voice husky.

Skye nodded and tilted her chin up to press her lips to his again, and they allowed passion and need and the long-deferred desire for closeness to overwhelm them both for a little while.

Skye broke things off before they had a chance to go too far, but she and Hunter remained nose-to-nose, both breathless and loath to separate more than the tiny distance they already had.

"What just happened?" she asked wonderingly.

"I think I kissed you. And you seem to've kissed me back," Hunter replied teasingly, quirking his lips in a grin. Skye laughed, her cheeks flushed. There was a new lightness and merriment in her eyes that kindled joy deep within him. With satisfaction, he pressed a kiss to her temple, then another lingering kiss to her lips.

They separated, holding each other's gaze until Skye's wavered. "This is more than just a fling, or some agent-y 'arrangement,' right?" she asked bluntly.

It floored him that she'd even think that was a possibility. He shook his head, tracing her cheekbones tentatively with his fingers, and smiled when she leaned into his touch. Softly, seriously, he answered, "You know you mean more than that to me."

Skye covered his hand on her cheek with her own hand and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and allowing happiness and hope to settle into the parts of her heart she'd long barricaded against such potentially treacherous emotions. She opened her eyes to find Hunter gazing at her adoringly. The intensity of his affection left her as breathless as his kiss had. She reveled in it.

A thought crossed her mind. "It wasn't just a joke, weeks ago, was it?" she asked quietly, with a smirk. "When you said that thing about being jealous."

"No," he replied, grinning. He twined their fingers together. "I wasn't entirely honest with you there," he admitted lightly, holding her gaze. "But I don't think you'd have been ready to hear it."

Skye shook her head. "I wouldn't have been," she concurred. "It's okay." She studied his face, as if to commit the details to memory. His eyes were lighter up close, the mahogany color closer to caramel when the light struck them just so. And he had little moles on his cheeks, half-hidden by his scruff, that she'd never noticed before. "How long have you felt this way?" she asked quietly.

Hunter's brow creased in thought. "It happened slowly," he replied, shifting slightly on the couch so he could more comfortably face her. "You began breaking through my walls, probably from our conversation about Izzy and Jane." Skye nodded. She remembered that as the first time she had caught a glimpse of the Lance Hunter under the surface. "Things grew from there." He paused briefly before adding, "I've known for a few weeks now that I'm in love with you."

Skye had the breath knocked out of her again. He had said it confidently, without a hint of doubt, seeming to have hesitated only to make sure he wouldn't overwhelm her with his confession.

"How about you?" he asked quietly. "When did it happen for you?"

"Well," she admitted slowly, "I noticed you the first day you showed up." Hunter's lips curved in a cocky grin. Skye rolled her eyes at him, grinning back. "But," she went on teasingly, "I managed to keep myself under control. Until the night we talked about Bobbi and Ward. After that...I couldn't keep my heart reined in any more." She stroked his face, running her fingers over his bristly stubble and smooth skin, relishing her new freedom to touch him. "You completely stole it."

Hunter grinned, dipping in to kiss her gently. That was good to hear.

"You're amazing," Skye murmured against his lips.

He straightened, shrugging modestly with a rueful smile. "Deeply flawed."

"That makes two of us." Skye settled back onto the couch, frowning. "Are we just a disaster waiting to happen?" she asked, only half-jokingly.

Hunter blinked at her in amused surprise. "I hope not," he answered emphatically. "Why do you ask?"

"We're going to have a lot of the same problems you and Bobbi had, you know," she forced herself to press, watching his reaction. "Separation. Secrets."

"I know," he answered quietly, picking up one of her hands and rubbing it gently with his thumb. "But this is completely different. What we have...we're starting with something much more grounded. Something more real." His gaze met hers, his caramel-shot eyes intensely vulnerable.

Real. Real felt good.

"I _know_ you. And I _trust_ you," Hunter stressed, searching Skye's eyes intently. The answering trust he found there bolstered his confidence. "It won't always be easy. We'll fight, we'll make mistakes, disappoint each other. The job will be hard. But whatever comes," he added softly, "I think we'll be able to weather it."

"I hope so," Skye whispered.

She leaned into him, felt his arms wrap around her. She snaked her arms around his waist and squeezed him tightly, allowing her worries to fade in the security of Hunter's embrace. She breathed in the scent of him, leather and musky soap. He smelled good. Clean. Like a fresh start.

After a moment, she lifted her head and kissed him, and they lost themselves in each other for a little while. When things began to heat up again, Skye pulled back, and Hunter, unthreatened, picked up on her need to take things slowly. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as she nestled back into his chest.

Then he smirked, suddenly mischievous. "And I'll try to keep my natural jealousy under control when Coulson sends you in to seduce someone."

Skye almost snorted. "Yeah, I don't see that happening any time soon," she answered dryly. "He _is_ a father figure to me, you know." They both dissolved into laughter.

Skye felt Hunter's chuckles reverberating through his body, pressed against her, and marveled at the peace she felt with him. So this was what it was like to choose to trust again, to steal a moment of rest and stability amidst the chaos that her life had become.

It was a good feeling.

They simply held each other for a while, Skye listening to his heartbeat thudding, Hunter breathing in the scent of her shampoo, each relishing the closeness, getting used to the feel of one another.

"Coulson would probably be more likely to pull out the shotgun," Hunter eventually mused.

Skye's shoulders shook with laughter. "We're going to have to tell him about us, you know." She tilted up her chin to look Hunter in the eye. The mock horror that swept across his face set her laughing again.

"Should we tell anyone else?" Hunter asked seriously, brushing his fingers carefully through her hair.

Skye considered it for a moment. "No," she answered. "Not yet. It's probably better to keep it under wraps, at least until things slow down a little." She snuggled closer to him, his arm tightening around her.

"I wonder if dating the boss's daughter comes with any special perks?" Hunter quipped musingly, placing a kiss on top of her head.

She poked him in the ribs, smirking. "Extra surveillance and very thin ice, probably."

"Eh," he said dismissively, gently tucking a stray strand of hair back from her face. He caught her in another adoring gaze that made her heart thump. "It's worth it."

Yes, Skye agreed. Whatever was to come, this was worth it.

Agent May was right again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The show's events this week will determine whether we can keep weaving Skye and Hunter's story in, or whether we will simply leave them here in a state of newfound bliss. Either way...I've accidentally found an OTP. More Skyelance will be coming from my keyboard....
> 
> PS - This was my first time writing anything like this, particularly this chapter. Would love feedback on strengths and weaknesses. :)


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